Reunions Can Go Far
by Memelimore
Summary: 8 years after the tour, Charlie convinces Mr Wonka to allow the other previous Ticker Winners a chance to work at the factory, seeing potential in them. However, he soon realises that he starts to make a connection with one of the previous winners. Eventual Charluca. Please R/r
1. The Arrival

**A/N Hi, this is the first fanfic I've ever created, I'm a bit excited and nervous to see how it turns out. I'm hoping everyone likes it, I'm not the best writer but thats okay. I dont have a coherent plot as of yet, but I have lots of ideas. I do have lil inspirations here and there from other stuff, but I won't blatantly use them. Just a little inspo from them where you're like aww how cute, nothing major ya know :) I hope everyone enjoys this. Please R/R and give me feedback to improve my writing skills :)**

Disclaimer: I do not anything from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or anything that connected with it. All rights belong to Roald Dahl, Warner Bros. and etc

It was 8am in the morning when the past Golden Ticket winners arrived, just like how they did 8 years prior. It was their first day working at the factory after being offered by Mr Wonka and Charlie, who saw potential in them. The now adults stood in line, staring at the factory, all deciding to ignore each and to grudgingly get their jobs done.

Violet, who had returned back to her original colour, looked over to Veruca and snickered. Veruca wasn't wearing any kind of fancy clothes that she had previously own. Instead she wore blue jeans and a white top, with a pair of white Converse Sneakers and what looked to be an old, second hand black coat that seemed to have costed not much money. Violet wondered what had happened to what she once considered a "rich bitch", now that she didn't look so snobby and rich anymore. Violet turned back and smiled that her former rival was now suffering, considering that Violet became even more successful in competitions with her newfound flexibility. However, her mother soon realised how much she was pushing her and made her stop competing in most competitions. Violets mother at first, viewed her as a freak because of her former blueness and super flexibility and disowned her for a while. But after Violet dealt with a little bullying she became very protective of her and finally cared about her daughter's well being.

Mike on the other hand, was too busy calculating his exact revenge on Wonka. Mike eventually returned back to a normal height, but he still endured months of pain and physical therapy, and was still very tall compared to the average height. Standing next to him was Augustus, who still loved chocolate but now to a much less extent, had become very athletic after his venture in the chocolate river. After being stuck in the pipe, he vowed himself to never be stuck in the same situation again. He worked out everyday, ate more healthier and eventually became very fit and wanted to run his own healthy diet program before he was offered this job. He knew he didn't have the money to start his business but knew he had to start out somewhere.

The four adults walked into the lobby and were greeted by none other than Charlie himself. He told them that these jobs were a trial, to test if they were loyal to the company and that his suspicions where right. He proceeded to tell them that he saw potential in them after hearing what they had been doing in the past 8 years. Not one of the four talked. He led them to a room that lead to a staircase, and once they climbed the stairs found themselves in what appeared to be an office. They took a look around and saw Willy Wonka peering out from his own office.

"Welcome childr-" Wonka exclaimed but cut himself off, seeing that they were no longer children. The others prayed there would be no "entertaining puppet show like performance" again.

He reached his hand out but quickly pulled back seeing the angry looks given by them. Wonka asked Charlie to show them around as he awkwardly left the room. Charlie showed them around the room. There was a lunch room in the back and a bathroom as well, it felt like a typical office room. Veruca thought this was weird because Wonka was known for being extravagant, maybe he did this because he wanted no accidents again.

Charlie then showed each to their desks and repeated to them of what their jobs were. Mike was in charge of helping to invent and build the machines, helping to apply physics so that they would actually work, and he also helped order parts for them as well. Augustus was hired to help order ingredients for the factory. He had to handle what was safe and what wasn't, and what the healthier alternates were. He eventually would taste test the products once they were finalised. Violet was put in charge of merchandising and sales, because of her competitive nature, she would want to get the best sales and would be very straight forward in selling products to other buyers. Veruca was chosen to help with any business and money purposes. She also helped Violet with sales, which ultimately made the two having their desks next to each other. Veruca immediately complained about this because of her rivalry with Violet, but Charlie told her that it was best because their jobs went hand in hand.

The two girls sat down and tried to ignore each other for the rest of the day. Charlie felt this intensity and walked over to the girls to apologise. Violet just ignored him and went back to working but Veruca told him it was fine. Charlie, clearly seeing it wasn't fine asked her again.

"I told you, its fine" She said sharply

"It doesn't seem like that." He replied. She ignored him, but he wanted to get through to her. He tried to think of what to say next but his mind was blank. But for some reason he changed the subject.

"So how have you both been?" Charlie muttered. He was confused as to why he said that, and by the look on their faces, they were as well.

"I've been okay…" Veruca replied whilst Violet ignored him and focused on not getting distracted and getting her work done.

Charlie then asked "Well what have you been doing all these years, it seems to be that you're the only one we couldn't keep a track on."

She glared at him, where they trying to spy on her? Charlie quickly responded, by saying that he wanted to know if everyone was alright after their experience at the tour, not to intrude on them.

"Well I've been… busy."

Charlie sighed, he then decided to reason with her. "Listen, if you want, I can try to move you away to another desk."

Violet scoffed at this and went back to doing her work.

"You can?" Veruca replied in disbelief, not making eye contact and focusing on her work.

"Well its not that hard, we will just have to find another desk. Besides I co-own this place so I can do it with no issues"

She smiled but quickly refrained herself. He went to return to his desk before she called him back.

"I just- I just wanted to apologise about how I was when I was 11. I'm sorry that I was such a bitch." she said head facing down.

"Well its okay. I forgive you. If you're apologising then it seems to me that you have changed a lot- for the better I mean" he replied, he then told her that she was the only one to have apologised to him, and that he believed in giving people second chances.

She soon returned back to her work, but it made her smile for the rest of the day. A genuine smile that no one had ever seen. To her, Charlie seemed to be the only person who had forgiven her and she wanted to make an effort to prove that she deserved that second chance. Not just for him, but for herself as well.

Charlie couldn't help but notice this and wanted to talk to her more, so he scheduled their lunch break to be together. Even though Charlie loved working at the factory, he felt lonely at times. Mr Wonka was like a brother to him, but he wanted a friend who was his own age. He felt as if he could finally have that with Veruca, now that she had apologised and seemed to want to make up for what she had done in the past, and he wanted to talk to her more. He told her when her breaks would be and asked that if she wanted, she could sit and have lunch with him. She accepted his offer and they went to the break room together.


	2. Lunch

**A/N I already wrote chapter two so I decided to upload it. I will normally be posting once every week, hopefully, I have uni so I might not get time to post every well. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It as a fun one to write. Please R/r :)**

The two were sitting in the break room eating lunch when Charlie asked her what she had been doing. She replied, saying that she already told him, but he wasn't fooled. He asked her what she was really doing, and asked what happened after the tour. To his surprise she told him that she was sent to military school for her behaviour. At first he didn't believe her, but she told him that it was the truth.

"You really went to military school?" he asked. He had never expected her to be the kind to go to military school. He asked her why.

"Well… my daddy sent me there after my behaviour." She replied, she was kind of embarrassed to say so. Charlie could see this and told her that he thought it was really cool that she went, and it probably shaped her into a better person. She couldn't help but agree, but was a little ashamed at the same time, she only went there because of her former behaviour.

"So I bet you're like really strong now or something?" he joked, to lighten to mood. She laughed and responded,

"Well yet again, you're probably pretty weak."

He chuckled and acted offended. He really enjoyed laughing and talking with her and asked her if they wanted to go out for lunch. She gave him a confused look, he saw this and quickly told her that he meant that it would be nicer if they chatted outside the office space, and as friends who could get to know each other more. To catch up on all those years.

"Who said I was your friend?" she jokingly replied, to which he grinned.

"Oh come on you know what I mean. Do you want to go or not?" he smiled

"I would but… I have no money… and my lunch break is over in 5 minutes" she answered.

"Don't worry about it." he said, reminding her that he was the co-owner of the place, and that he would pay. She smiled and offered to pay him back but he refused.

"You've always been so kind, thank you." She said to his response, and told him that she would love to go.

They grabbed their coats and exited the building. The pavements were wet from the snow so they walked carefully, not to slip. They began walking down the street, stepping in the cold, icy covered footpath. She shivered in the cool wind, Charlie could tell that her coat was thin and offered his, but she refused his kind gesture. Charlie suggested a nice pub down the street and they walked across the street, trampling in the snow.

Once they got inside, the were submerged in warmth. They picked a booth and sat down. They ordered some fries because they already ate, and some sodas.

"So what happened to all the fancy clothes?' he asked her upon seeing a rip in her coat pocket

"My parents sold most of them after the tour. Once I outgrew the rest I had to pay for my own clothes. And clothes are pretty expensive, even the ones I don't like." she answered, complaining that she hated wearing cheap clothes.

"Well what about all of your pets?" He asked, remember her plethora of pets.

"All sold. I was allowed to keep one. Poor choice though because the pony died a year later." she responded

He asked her why and she told him that she was trying to perform a jump but it landed funny and flew her off. She fractured her foot and apparently had 3 stitches as well from landing. Unfortunately, the horse had to be put down since it broke its leg. She told him that she was really upset and begged her daddy not to put him down, but she knew it had to be. He seemed sorry for her, he never had a pet, but he imagined it would be tough to loose it.

Their food arrived and he asked what happened after the tour. He said he saw her arguing with her father as they walked out, both covered head to toe in garbage. She told him that she was in hospital before she had to go home. Her father worried that because the squirrels scratched her up quite a lot, that it might get infected from the garbage.

"It turns out that I broke my arm trying to break my fall, and I landed on some garbage that stabbed me ore something… so that was pleasant." she mentioned.

Charlie knew what she meant. There wasn't just one garbage chute, but many in the factory, leading all the the one incinerator. Mr Wonka would sometimes throw broken beakers and other types of junk that shouldn't really go in there. Apparently thats the reason why it was broken, because even though it could burn almost anything, something went wrong and the machine broke. From now on Mr Wonka only puts rubbish in there, and any other recycling into a more powerful incinerator that could handle that stuff.

"So what happened after that?" he asked, sounding interested.

"Well, as you know everything was sold off, and I got-" She paused for a moment. Not knowing if she should tell him that she got expelled from school, she didn't want to scare him off. "- I dropped out of school. I was bullied a lot after the tour"

"You were bullied?" He asked her in disbelief

"Looking back I don't think a lot of my friends were really my friends. The day I got my ticket I boasted to everyone. I guess that came back at me once I returned and everyone saw that I was covered in garbage on the news."

She bowed her head down in shame. Did she really not have friends?, Charlie thought. But yet again she was very bratty. Who would want to be friends with someone so mean.

"I was very lonely for a while" she continued "… and I dropped out and got home schooled for a month before daddy sent me to military school, something that he apparently already discussed with my mother after the tour. I mean- I guess I deserved it for be such a brat with a temper."

Charlie began feeling sorry for her. He knew what it was like getting bullied. In response, he told her that he too was bullied a lot before the tour. After he won the position, he saw that everyone suddenly wanted to become his friend and he agreed that there are a lot of fake people out in the world.

"So how was military school then?" he asked which intrigue.

"Not fun at all. I was exhausted. But I surprisingly did well." she answered.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I graduated last year with honours and got a scholarship to some big law school." She answered. She looked up to see that he seemed so happy for her.

He asked her why she didn't go and she muttered that it was because her father wanted her to go to business school, for when she takes over the nut business one day. Something that she told him she didn't want to do. But now, working at the factory, it was a guaranteed job without university and her father had hoped she could merge the businesses together.

"You do a lot of things for your father don't you?" he responded, catchy on to what she had been saying.

"I don't know what you mean" she said defensibly.

"Well, you didn't go to law school like you wanted, did you? You went to businesses school instead to run your fathers business in which you don't seem happy about, and you took this job on your father's request." He said quite rationally.

"Well… of course… I have to…" she muttered.

"Why?" he asked, hearing her muttering.

"Because… I guess I just wanted his approval of me… "

Charlie was taken back. She went from being selfish, to doing anything her father wanted her to do. He asked her why and she told him that she felt guilty for all the things she did in the past. She explained that after the tour her fathers business nearly died out. It was humiliating, and her family became a laughing stock amongst all the rich business owners in her fathers fancy club. She almost felt like crying but held herself together. She told him that she regretted being a cold hearted bitch, and the reasons why she was a brat. She never felt as if her parents loved her. They always tried to buy her love instead of giving it to her. She didn't know whether it was because they didn't know how to show it, or because they thought they could just exchange it instead. Of course, she took it for granted and became a spoilt brat. But she always felt something was missing, and it was only until later on did she realise it. It didn't excuse her past behaviour, she knew that, but it put some new perspectives on it.

Charlie didn't know how to react, and but told her that he understood.

"I've never told anyone this but… when Mr Wonka first offered me the position, I didn't take it. He told me my family couldn't come along. It was only after I convinced him to resolve his old family issues, that he offered me and my family to come live at the factory. Family is very important to me, and I'm sorry that you never got to experience that yourself. My grandparents said that there was no good in spoiling a child."

"Really?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

"Yes, even though you were a brat, it wasn't all your fault. Your parents are partially to blame because they allowed you to become like that. I'm glad you recognise that now, it certainly shows that you have changed a lot."

She blushed and told him that he was the first one to even recognise that she had changed, even she struggled to believe that. Her self confidence had dropped in the past few years from her parents ignoring her and seeing her as a failure. They had practically disowned her. He was the first to realise, and to give her a second chance.

They stayed and chatted for a while but realised it was getting late and they had to get back to work. They got to know each other a lot better, and she thanked him for being a true friend and talking with her.

"Who said I was your friend" He jokingly remarked.

"No seriously…thank you. I needed it. You're a good friend." she said as they headed back inside the factory doors.


	3. Trouble

**A/N Thanks for the reviews. MatttheWriter072 I actually** **hadn't until you mentioned it, I had a read of both and they are really great. I really LOVE Salty Reunion! I don't normally use , I often read on Ao3 but I found the formatting better on here, and have started to read more on here. But yeah I guess its because two people are just reuniting haha. I am working on my grammar and becoming a better writer though, and thanks for the suggestion. And Charluca all the way :)**

The next day, Violet kept pestering Veruca on what her and Charlie had been doing the previous day. She kept insisting that Veruca had been on a "date" , which infuriated Veruca because she and Charlie were just friends. Violet knew that there was something else there and kept asking her what they had been talking about. Veruca, now getting madder and madder with each word Violet said, told her that it was nothing and it wasn't her business. This made Violet smile with glee.

"I think you just proved my point" Violet said, smirking at Veruca who was now inches away from fighting her.

"How about you mind your own business and get back to work. We are just FRIENDS!" She yelled

"Wow, looks like someone hasn't taken their medication today." She replied in a snarky tone.

"WHat did you just say!?" Veruca asked, her fist balling up. "How did you know about that!?" she continued, her heart pounding, she was ready to kill her.

"Isn't it obvious" Violet remarked. "What? Daddy couldn't buy you any more?" Violet said pretending to pout.

With that snide comment, she was immediately punched across the face. Violet told her that she shouldn't of done that and retaliated. The two girls jumped at each other. Mike sat back laughing, whilst the two girls wrestled each other, Veruca pulling Violet's hair, and Violet trying to put her in an arm hold. Just as that happened Charlie came into the building, he threw his coat on the floor and rushed to the girls, pulling them off each other.

"Seriously, girls, act like adults!" he said, trying to break them apart.

"She started it!" Veruca yelled back

"I don't care who started it, you both shouldn't be fighting in my factory!" He said yelled, Mike began laughing hysterically and Charlie told Violet to sit down whilst he tried to calm Veruca down.

They sat in the break room. He sat down next to her and asked to to talk about what happened. She refused, only repeating that it was Violets fault and that she should be fired. Charlie told her that he couldn't help her if she didn't tell him, and so he did. He reassured her that they were just friends, and that she was right. Violet was only trying to get a reaction from her and that she should realise that for future reference, and that the next time it happens she should walk away and talk to him.

"I just hate her!" she yelled.

"I know you do, I can move you two away from each other, but I don't know how thats going to help considering you need to help each other in your jobs"

"Then fire her!"

"I cant do that!"

She asked him why not, and he said that she hadn't done anything bad for the company, however he could give her a warning, something that he had to give to Veruca as well. He told her that she shouldn't of punched Violet and she murmured that she was a bitch.

"Why?"

"She made fun of me…" She said grumpily

"Thats not an excuse, you are both adults, deal with problems like adults" he told her firmly.

"She made fun of my temper okay! You know that I'm working on it."

He told her to not let it get to her. She sighed and revealed that she has to take medication for it, but hasn't been able to because she couldn't afford it. She proceeded to tell him that Violet some how knew this, but he hadn't told anyone about it, and that she made some snarky remark about her daddy.

"And you hit her for it?" he asked calmly. She nodded and he put his arm around her, reassuring her that everything would be okay. He warned her not to do this again, but he couldn't help but sympathies with her. She really had been through a lot that he didn't know about, and it seemed as if her whole life took a turn for the worse after the tour. He told her that he would go talk to Violet and would ask Violet to move next to Mike. She left the room and Violet came in, smirking at Veruca.

"I was told you started it?" Charlie asked, raising an eyebrow. He pulled a chair for Violet to sit on, and crossed his arms in annoyance.

"I can't help it if she reacts so badly." she responded

"But you did keep on pushing for an answer though, after she told you to stop? You knew it WOULD get a reaction out of her didn't you?"

Violet didn't know what to say next. It was true, she couldn't deny it. He gave her a firm warning, workplace bullying wasn't tolerated, and violence was going to have to be written up. He asked her why they never liked each other. Violet recounted her first arrival at the factory when the tour began. She knew Veruca was a threat, and vice versa. She especially hated her after her snide remark after Violet had chewed that gum, it was like Veruca wanted it to happen to her, as if she wanted her to suffer. Charlie asked her to apologise, Violet refused but he told her that he would make sure that Veruca would apologise to her as well, to which is complied. She got up to leave but before Violet left he asked her how she knew Veruca's secret.

"I- I got Mike to hack into her school reports… I wanted to find something terrible about her."

"Violet…"

"I know…. But I just cant help it… and Im sorry that I like to intrude on other peoples lives. I just wanted her to suffer like how she wanted me to." she said harshly. She huffed as she walked out the door.

As she left he shook his head. What had he gotten himself into. They were just as bad as when they were kids, at least Veruca made an effort and regretted everything that she had done. He should of taken Mr Wonka's advice and not let them work at the factory. He reaffirmed his thoughts, if he hadn't of hired them, who knows what they would end up like, and Veruca and him wouldn't be friends, something that they both needed. He sighed and went back to his desk. He saw the two girls death staring each other, quickly glancing away once they saw him walk by.

After the argument Mike had stop his "revenge plan" and started going through the security footage. He knew it was going to take him ages to find "the one", but once he did he called Violet over.

"You are never going to guess what I found'

'No way! When did you do this? How long did this take you!?" she exclaimed, looking at the video present on his computer screen. Mike explained that it took him an hour to scroll through 8 years worth of footage to find the video. That video being, Veruca Salt's departure from the tour group. Violet asked him why, and he said that he knew how much both he and Violet hated Veruca, and this would be a fun detour from work.

"I already thought your "revenge" plan was a detour." she mockingly said

"Don't mock my plan okay?" he said whilst she laughed. She knew that he would quit his plan after a while, it was a stupid idea, and he just needed to realise it.

"Oh alright then, turn it up. I want her to hear it." she asked as she snickered in Veruca's direction.

Veruca was at her desk, doing some heavy paper work. She hated doing business, but it was one of the only things she was good at, and she did partially enjoy it, when money was involved. She heard Violet and Mike gossiping in the corner. She had the urge to yell at them but remembered Charlie's advice and refrained herself from doing so.

The snickering continued and she heard a screaming from Mikes computer as the two hysterically laughed. She tried to ignore it but she caught on to what they were listening to.

"Where are they taking her…garbage chute….bad nut…incinerator…..Tuesday" were the only words she heard to know what was going on.

She ran over to his computer and her assumptions were correct. She wanted to yell at them to turn it off but her eyes were fixated on the screen. Hundreds of squirrels dragging her body across the floor, she could see that she tried to claw herself free. Veruca stood there frozen, she wanted to move away but couldn't. She could remember everything so vividly. Veruca started panicking, and allowed herself to leave. She stormed out the building, and exited the factory.

"That wasn't the reaction I was hoping for…" Mike said. Violet nodded, she couldn't help but feel horrible. Sure she liked teasing her but this was cruel, and for once in her life she felt sympathy for the girl. She looked at the reality of it, the poor girl, whether she hated her or not, went through some pretty traumatic stuff, Violet herself went through a traumatic experience herself. She didn't know what happened to Veruca after the tour or how it affected her but she knew that she would probably have the same reaction if Veruca and Mike pulled up a video of her eating that gum and turning into a blueberry. It was embarrassing, and Veruca's squirrel incident was probably embarrassing for her as well.

"Mike I think what we did was a little harsh…" she said with sympathy in her voice

"Are you kidding me?! You hate her, and you never knew what happened to her, so it was about time you found out what happened. Besides, didn't you two JUST have a fight."

"I think its one thing to tease someone, but this is just plain harassment, and I don't want to get fired. Close the video before Charlie finds out and we both get fired okay!"

"Fine…" he groaned, before saving it on a USB first. He looked up from his computer screen to see that Violet had gotten up to leave as well, pushing through Augustus as he entered through the doorway. Augustus asked what was going on and Mike explained. Augustus told him that he saw Veruca in a hurry outside, but he didn't dare ask what was going on. She seemed visibly angry and upset.

"Do you know where she went?" Mike groaned. He didn't want to ask but knew that he would get into a lot of trouble if he didn't, and he was too tired to be yelled at by Violet or Charlie.

"Ich just saw her leaving the factory gates, das ist all." He replied, still confused as to what was going on.

He sighed and texted Violet, that was his job done, and went back to his "master plan". Augustus couldn't help but worry and went to get Charlie who was horrified at what they had done, and called for them all to go look for her. He grabbed his coat and they left the building.

 **A/N I felt that yes, they all have changed in some way, however they would all have a lot of the same traits they did as they were younger. I felt that Veruca would totally still have temperament problems and so I wrote that in because I felt that was a trait that probably wouldn't change, and that she would struggle with. I have always seen Violet as the type of person to want to know everybody's business. Her and Veruca would probably like snooping around together, and of course is a very abrasive and arrogant person, but much to a lesser extent now. I don't particularly like this chapter, but I felt that I needed Veruca and Violet to have some tension that needed to be resolved, something that Charlie would probably end up by helping with. I know this is a Charluca fanfic but I wanted to involve the other characters, but don't worry, Charlie is concerned and worried about her whereabouts.**


	4. Making Amends

**A/N Hello, sorry I haven't updated, I've been swamped with assignments. I hope you all enjoy :)**

Violet hurried after Veruca, stepping outside into the cold breeze. She saw Veruca sitting at a park bench just outside the factory gates and sat down to talk to her. Veruca at first shifted herself away from her and tried to ignore her but once Violet apologised she started to listen.

"I really shouldn't have encouraged Mike to do that. I know that if I saw what happened to me, I would freak out as well."

"But why did you though?" Veruca asked, finally speaking up.

"I - I don't know. I guess its because we've always hated each other, you laughed at what happened to me, I thought I should do the same for you." Violet responded. Both girls staring at the ground below them, staying quiet. It was silent for a few minutes until Veruca spoke up.

"I'm sorry I laughed at you. I was such a cold hearted bitch" she apologised, laughing at the fact that she was so cold hearted.

"It's okay. I was way too stupid."

"Not as stupid as I was. What did I honestly think was going to happen? That the squirrels would come to me so nicely?"

They both laughed and agreed to put things behind them. Veruca asked her what happened between her and her mother, with Violet responding that it didn't go so well at first, but that they are good now. They began discussing what they had been up to in the past years and once they got to know each other, found out that they had a few things in common. They weren't competing, they weren't bitching, just having a normal conversation.

"So do you want to be friends?" Violet asked

"Best friends." Veruca replied.

Veruca expressed how she never really wanted to return to the factory, too many bad memories and to many bad nightmares. She joked that now that she's made friends with Violet that she should do the same with the squirrels. Violet pondered over this and told her that she should. Veruca thought she was crazy but Violet told her what her mother always taught her, to face and overcome her fears. She didn't know whether she should do it or not. Should she ask Charlie? No, she shouldn't have to prove it to anyone but her self. She got up from the bench and told Violet that she was doing it.

They walked into the factory and saw the Great Glass Elevator in the lobby. They entered and pressed the button that displayed "Nut Sorting Room". The elevator pinged and sent both girls crashing into each other as the elevator wooshed its way to the nut sorting room. By the time they reached the Nut Room both girls were on the floor in pain. They stumbled out of the elevator to find themselves staring at hundreds of squirrels cracking open nuts. Veruca put her hands on the bars of the gate, just like how she did many years ago. She stared at the squirrels for a few moments before telling Violet she couldn't do it. She started freaking out and panicking just from SEEING the blue and white striped floor.

"Really Veruca!? I KNOW that you can do this. We didn't make it here for nothing."

"I can't do this Violet. You don't understand."

"Man up and face your fears! What happened to that cold hearted bitch? Now get your ass down there and apologise to those squirrels."

"Thats not how it wor- okay… " Veruca responded, climbing through the gate.

She was about to go down but Violet thought clearly about what she was going to do and stopped her.

"Wait… I'm sorry. I was totally acting like my mother just then. I don't want to force you into doing something you don't want to do."

Veruca ignored her and went down face the squirrels below. Was this a bad idea? She hoped not.

Meanwhile Charlie had just gotten back. He had seen Veruca and Violet chatting outside and went back to doing his work. Mike however still had the security footage running on his computer. He saw both girls enter the Nut Room. He didn't know what to think. Should he tell Charlie? Or should he just sit and laugh? He decided to watch it for a bit until anything bad happened. He saw Veruca go down into the where the squirrels were shelling nuts. He decided it was enough and called Charlie over.

"Um, did you know that both girls are in the Nut Room?"

"What? How did they get in there?" He said looking at the footage, noticing the elevator in the background. He told Mike to stay there looking at the footage whilst he and Augustus would race to get the girls out. The both of them raced out of the room and went back to the lobby. They pushed the call button to get the elevator back, and once it arrived they quickly pressed the button that lead them to the Nut Room. With quick thinking, Charlie pressed the emergency button, which slide out another compartment of buttons, pressing the speed button, the elevator wooshed off to the nut room. By the time they got there they saw Veruca standing in the middle of the room, Violet eagerly peering on, worried about her friend, whispering to for her to come back. Violet turned around to see Charlie racing to the gate. She told them to be quiet as Veruca went up to the squirrels and stared at them.

"Veruca…. Get back now!" Charlie whispered.

She turned around to see him unlocking the gate. She quietly walked back to the gate. She had done what she had needed to do, which was to face her fears. Suddenly the gate slipped from Charlie's hand and slammed against the wall with a thud, the noise, disturbing the squirrels. They all jumped off their stools and raced towards Veruca, thinking she was behind the disturbance. She started panicking, her legs felt stiff and she couldn't move. It was happening again. They all started jumping on her, clawing her. She tried to fling them off, rushing backwards. They wouldn't budge. It wasn't until she started moving towards the hole in the floor that Charlie went down to help her. Flinging the squirrels off of her and catching her before she fell.

With a sigh of relief, he lead her back to the stairs and closed the gate. He ordered everyone to get back to their desks. They all went back into the elevator, and stayed in silence on the way back.

 **A/N Wasn't so much Charluca but I thought that Veruca and Violet needed to settle things between them first.**


	5. Scared

**A/N Hi y'all, sorry I've been away, I've been too busy with assignments. On the bright side though, I have a set plan for both my stories, AND have actually written a total of 12 chapters for THIS story (I write on the way to uni). So if you want, I can post another two chapters today OR every week post two chapters. I hope you all enjoy this, please read and review and I hope you are liking the story. I actually enjoy the later chapters that I have written, and prefer them over the beginning chapters, but you will just have to wait and see for those chapters ;)**

"What the hell were you two thinking!?" Charlie yelled at the girls who had their heads bowed down.

"I'm sorry…" Veruca muttered.

"I would have thought that you had learned the last time that that was a bad idea."

"I wasn't trying to steal them! I just wanted to face my fears… besides, it was Violets idea!"

Charlie looked at Violet who nodded, but proceeded to tell him that she regretted it and insisted that she didn't actually go down to the squirrels. He told them that they shouldn't have gone to any of the other rooms without his or Wonka's permission, and stealing the elevator was an even worse idea. Veruca apologised again before thanking him. Charlie insisted that Violet shouldn't have told her to go and it was a cruel prank, but Veruca stood up for her friend, saying they let the past behind them.

"Well… I'm proud that you have done that, its very mature of the both of you. However, don't think I'm letting you both off easy. Violet, I want you to return to your desk whilst I talk to Veruca" he told her.

As Violet returned to her desk Charlie lead Veruca to the break room. She sat down whilst Charlie went through the medical kit. She sat in silence, embarrassed. He grabbed some antiseptic and went to apply it to the cuts that the squirrels left behind. She snatched it from his hands telling him that she could do it herself, proceeded by an apology for speaking rudely. He asked her why she went back to the Nut Room and she mumbled that she didn't know why.

"Veruca… "

"I know it was a stupid idea… I just wanted to prove to the others that they were wrong about me. "

"You didn't need to prove anything…wait…you're not telling me the whole story are you?" he asked. She nodded.

"I just don't want to be scared anymore."

He placed his hand on hers and tried to comfort her. He knew how much she struggled with the whole squirrel thing. He grabbed a band-aid and placed it on the cut on her forehead. She smiled at his warming comfort, it was really the first time anyone had done that, and it wasn't a cold response from him either. He passed her the other bandaids and left the room, but when he left, that warm feeling disappeared.

She returned back to her desk when Wonka suddenly appeared from his office. He placed his hat on the desk to reveal a bunch of pieces of paper in it.

"As you know, it is exactly one month until Christmas. And we like our Christmas' to be fun okay. So what you each will be doing is pulling a name out of a hat and you will buy a present for whoever you get. We often do it with the Oompa Loompa's because there are so many of them."

"Question. Why do we have to do this?" asked Mike

"Secret Santa is a fun tradition." Wonka responded before muttering that Mike was a mumbler.

"Mike, just get into the Christmas spirit." Augustus said.

Wonka came around with his hat and they all drew out a name. Charlie was surprised to find out that he drew Veruca's name, a surprise for sure, but a welcome one. He thought about what he was going to get her. He was so unsure, because she had almost everything as a child he didn't know what would be suitable enough. But he knew that she wasn't like that anymore, but it was still confusing as to what he should get her. Of course he didn't want to ask her, it would be too obvious, and he tried to think back to all the times they've talked but not once did she mention anything she wanted. He could really tell that she wanted to leave the past behind her, and he respected that.

Augustus wondered over to Charlie to see what he should get for Wonka. Knowing Charlie had been his closest friend he was sure that he would know, however he was too distracted and told Augustus that he actually really didn't know. In actually thinking it, Charlie really didn't know. He assured Augustus that if its anything chocolate related then he should get him something like that. He also mentioned that it should be wonderful and a surprise, knowing how spontaneous Wonka liked to be. Mike on the other hand had Violet. He was sure it was going to be easy, but really it wasn't. He realised that however stereotypical everyone seemed, they really weren't. He just assumed he would get her something sports related and then that would be it.

Violet had pulled out Augustus' name and immediately knew what to get him. Augustus, although still had a love for all sweet foods, had become healthier and very fit. He and Violet often talked about fitness and she even gave him some tips. She recommended that he should try not only cardio but also strength training as well. So she knew she would buy him something like that. Veruca, had pulled Mikes name. At first she was unsure of what to get him, but she knew he loved all things geeky and knew she should find out what he liked before going to the comic book store later that day. Of course she would talk to Violet first, because Violet, to much surprise, was a geek herself.

Finally Wonka pulled out Charlie's name. Wonka had felt that he had lost connection with Charlie a little bit once the other ticket winners were hired. So he knew for sure that he had to get the best present. He also reminded them that there was a $50 limit on all gifts, which relieved them, especially Veruca who was only just getting budgeting figured out. Charlie looked over to see her relived. He was determined to find the perfect gift for her, not only something that she wanted, but something she needed.

 **Please review, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Lil bit inspo from The Office with this 'Secret Santa' thing, but don't worry it ain't gonna be like that. :)**


	6. Presents

It was close to Christmas and everyone had seemed to have gotten each other presents, except for Charlie. He had no idea what to get Veruca, until one day he was walking back from work with her. They often walked home together since it would get dark by the time work finished, and he offered to walk her home. They didn't live too far away from each other so it was no hassle for him. They were going their usual route home, a ten minute walk from the factory, passing some shops when she noticed something in the window. It was a really nice mink coat, very similar to the one she had worn when she had first arrived for the tour. Apparently that coat was her favourite, which was why she didn't take it off during the tour, so "nobody could ruin it or steal it". However it was ruined when she landed in the garbage, something she deeply regretted. But she couldn't afford a new coat, at least not now. She knew she was making money, but she needed other things before she bought the coat. Charlie, upon hearing this, appreciated that she now recognised the difference between "needs" and "wants".

"Well, your coat now doesn't look very useful" he said, looking at her thin, warn out jacket.

"Well, I've had it for ages thats why." She replied, with a hint of defence.

"No, I mean, you should get a new jacket, you don't want to get sick do you?" he asked

"I know, but like I said, I need to pay my rent, and buy more important things before I start thinking about that" she said rolling her eyes.

"I understand." He said as they walked away from the shop window. He could tell that she was cold from the snow and gave her his jacket to wear until she arrived at her apartment, to which she thanked him. Every time they walked back from work he noticed her eyeing the coat, talking about how much she wanted it but could never afford it. It was then that he decided he was going to buy it for her. He knew how much she wanted it, and couldn't wait to see her face when she opened it.

—

The day before Christmas Eve arrived, and the workspace was highly decorated. There was actual, edible, candy mistletoe hanging from doorways, tinsel that tasted like fairy floss, and an edible Christmas tree that tasted like mint, with real candy canes growing from it. The room shined with rich gold and red colours. Each present under the tree was wrapped in a licorise bow. Charlie walked in to see the girls helping to decorate and congratulated them on such a wonderful job.

"We did have our fair share of disagreements" Violet said gritting her teeth, pretending to smile.

"Yes, we certainly did, and I still think the tree should go in the corner" Veruca said faking a smile and nudging Violet.

Charlie chuckled and put his present under the tree, he told the girls that they would start the gift opening in five minutes when Wonka arrived. He walked over to Mike and Augustus who were setting up the food table and told them the same thing. Wonka arrived in less time than he thought, dressed up like Santa, with Mike scoffing. They all sat around the tree and Wonka threw the first present at Violet. It was shaped like a ball, and she opened it to reveal a basketball.

"You're on Beureguarde!" Mike said. To which she scoffed at and told him that his height didn't matter, an argument which had been ongoing for the past two months.

The next present went to Augustus, who opened it up to reveal a book all about strength training. He immediately knew it was Violet who had got it for him and he take her. Wonka then threw Charlie his present which revealed to be a key to a new part to the factory. Wonka told him that he will now work entirely on a project by himself. At first he was shocked but he thanked him, he always wanted to do his own solo project. He usually collaborated with Wonka or was still his apprentice when they were doing projects. Mike was next and Veruca had gotten him a bunch of Star Wars comics which he liked enough to not even make a sarcastic comment. He thanked and began reading them, zoning out from the next presents to be given out. Augustus, with the help of Charlie, made a sculpture of the factory made entirely out of chocolate. Wonka loved it so much that Augustus had sworn he saw a tear on that mans eye. The last present went to Veruca, who began to be impatient. The minute she grabbed the present she unwrapped violently to reveal the coat. She was stunned when she saw what it was. She looked up to Charlie, knowing it was he who got her the gift. She didn't know what to say and quietly thanked him before looking back at the coat in awe.

Later, when everyone was entertaining themselves with their gifts, Veruca walked up to Charlie near the refreshments table to thank him.

"I just wanted to thank you again, this really means a lot." She said.

"How did you know it was me?" he chuckled, in which she replied to saying that he was the only one told about the coat.

"Charlie, this was four hundred pounds, you shouldn't have."

"I couldn't just let you freeze in the cold now could I? Besides, you don't know that I maxed out on it." He replied.

"I think I know fashion Charlie, I know that this is genuine fur." She chuckled.

She yet again thanked him for the coat and promised she would wear it wherever she could. After all, it was a great coat. They looked over to see Mike ignoring Violet bothering him. He was too interested in his comics.

"You know, Ive never gotten the point of Star Wars." Veruca responded

"What?! Are you telling me you haven't seen a Star Wars?" He asked, acted offended

"Nope."

"Wow. I would have loved to have seen them in theatres when I was a kid! I just never had the money." He replied.

Veruca responded saying that she never seemed interested in those sci-fi, action type movies. In fact, she recalled not seeing many of those types of movies as a child. She never had an interest in them, only in princess movies.

"What about Harry Potter? You're British, you have had to of seen a Harry Potter! I'm not into that many movies but those two are classics!" He expressed in a hopeful tone.

She told him once again that she wasn't interested in those type of movies in which he insisted she watched. He told her that she had to see them and that she was coming over to his place to watch them.

"But what if I don't want to?" She laughed.

"I'll bring food and drinks, and it would be fun." He insisted.

"Okay… but you come to my place, so in that case, I can fall asleep" She joked.

He told her that he would be there the next day so she had better be ready. He was told to bring the best food he could think of, and that she would be prepared to prove him on how stupid the movies were going to be. He smiled, and reassured her that they won't and she would enjoy herself.


	7. Movie Night

**Thank you for the review** **MatttheWriter072** **! I'm glad you are enjoying this. Don't worry, I have plans for what that key will lead to. ;)**

Saturday night arrived and Charlie was prepared to go to Veruca's apartment to watch some films with her. He had picked two movies, 'Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone' and 'Star Wars: A New Hope' for her to choose. Before he left work he entered the Chocolate Room and picked some candy for them to have when watching the movie. It wasn't long before he knocked on her apartment, considering they didn't live too far from each other. She greeted him inside where he found how small her apartment was. It wasn't much, it consisted of small rooms, a kitchen/living area, a bedroom towards the back, and a bathroom. He walked into the apartment to find incomplete Ikea furniture, and a worn out couch facing a small tv. He felt sorry for her, she was clearly trying but couldn't afford much, and it looked like she had completely given up on the Ikea table sitting next to the couch.

"I know it isn't much, but at least I'm earning money now." She said, which was true. Now that she was working for Wonka she would be getting an incredible pay rise, however Wonka told Charlie that they had to complete a three month trial, to prove that they were loyal to the company, which made sense.

He walked over to a couple of photo frames on the kitchen counter, she told them she was only putting them there for the moment until she figured out how to build the table. He laughed and picked up one of the photos. It was a photo of a teenage Veruca at military school. She looked about 14 or 15 and had braces with her hair in a tight bun. She quickly snatched the photo.

"I don't know why I have that laying around. I looked so dorky." she groaned

"No, you don't, you were just a teenager, I guess that all teenagers go through that stage. How old were you?" He asked out of curiosity

"I was fourteen, it was my second year at military school… I hated it so much, do you know how hard it was to get my hair in that stupid bun?"

"Really hard?" he responded

"Exactly, I mean, I always had people do it for me, so imagine my surprise when I had to learn that I had to do it by myself." she groaned

"Why didn't you just cut it shorter?" He chuckled

"I would NEVER cut my hair shorter Charlie. Never. It took me three weeks to get that garbage completely washed out of my hair because I refused to cut it shorter."

"Why?" he asked

"I don't know. I just like my hair long okay!? Its pretty, and shorter hair reminds me of Violet and her mother's ugly hair. Now lets just watch this movie." She said as she grabbed her laptop

He knew one thing for certain, that she hadn't changed her attitude about her style. He asked her why they didn't play it on the tv, to which she responded that she didn't have a dvd player. He told her she should have asked to borrow his, something that she didn't think about. They sat down and she picked randomly one of the movies, picking Star Wars. She groaned and put it in her laptop, noticing the "IV" on the dvd case she asked why they were starting at the fourth movie, to which he explained that they were made before the 'Prequel' trilogy. It confused her but she pressed play anyway. He remembered the snacks and bought out a box full of candy. There was one piece of candy he specifically bought for her, which was a lollipop.

"You remembered" she laughed as he passed it to her.

"Well, you didn't stop eating it, even when Augustus went up the pipe, I assumed you just really enjoyed it."

"If I'm going to be honest, I couldn't care less about Augustus going up that pipe. Sure it added drama to the tour, which I liked, but that lollipop was way too good." she giggled

The movie started and she couldn't stop asking him questions. "Who's the old man?" "Why are they on a desert? Like, couldn't they move to somewhere better?" "How do you farm on a desert?" …. The questions went on and on, he didn't know if she didn't care and was purposely trying to annoy him or if she genuinely cared and wanted to know more about the movie but he happily paused and answered her questions. By the time he noticed she had stopped asking questions it was half way through the movie. He thought that maybe she was enjoying it enough to watch it. But he was wrong. He felt a heaviness on his shoulder and looked to find that she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to wake her up, so he sat there and continued to watch the movie.

He couldn't help but notice how peaceful she looked whilst sleeping. Suddenly, this warm feeling rushed across him. It was like as if he wanted to continue to stare at her, but not in a creepy way. It was a nice feeling, and he liked seeing her so relaxed. He realised how kind he had been to her. Was it because they had become really good friends? Or was there more to it than he realised? It couldn't be, could it? He enjoyed her company, he had always been lonely, even after winning the factory. He had offered her his friendship and she took it, and now he was falling in love with her. It was the little things that made him realise this as he thought it over, the way that she smiled and laughed as they fake teased each other, the little chats they had when they walked home together, even the way she complained about Mike disrupting her work. He now realised that he was falling in love with her, and he wanted more moments like these with her. It was stupid, she probably would never feel about him that way. She was his friend, and he didn't want to ruin that. He paused the movie, and as he did so he nudged Veruca, which woke her up.

"I'm sorry" he quickly apologised. "I didn't mean to wake you up"

"No, it's okay. I told you this would happen." She giggled.

"I'm sorry I made you sit through that then" He responded, embarrassed.

"Don't be. I got to spend time with a friend, and it wasn't THAT bad of a movie" she replied.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before he got up. He apologised once again, and told her that he should probably head home. She was clearly tired and he told her to get some rest. He grabbed the DVD's and wished her a goodnight before leaving.


	8. Feelings

**A/N MattTheWriter072, thank you for the review. I can assure you feelings will start to develop now. I'm glad that you are enjoying this. Originally this was story was meant for all versions for people to interpret which ever versions they like, however I think its more leaning towards the 05 version (Which is my fav). I was thinking about it today about why I ship it. I think it's because they are so opposite to each other that it works in a way. She was rich and he was poor, and I liked the idea of that being flipped around for the both of them with Charlie winning the factory and Veruca being sent away and everything she owned being sold off. I do believe however, that if they hadn't of reunited I don't think anything romantic would happen between them (with them and maybe with other people). I think the reason being is Charlie being lonely in the factory (with people his own age that is), and Veruca probably because of her past haunting her in a way that it would probably get in the way of things. They would probably understand each other. But enough about why I ship it, I hope you enjoy this next (but short) chapter.**

The whole weekend Charlie had been trying to deny his feelings for her. He had thought it over countless times and it had even kept him awake at night. He tried to tell himself that there was no way that he liked her in that way. He just wanted to be friends, and he was afraid that if he did have those feelings it might ruin that friendship. Surely she didn't feel about him that way either, right? He spent the weekend confused and doubting himself. No, he would just forget that those thoughts had ever occurred in his mind. He didn't want to loose their friendship, and maybe he just wanted to be even closer friends with her. He showed up to work Monday morning and tried to ignore his feelings. He told himself that it was nothing every time he looked at her.

He went to place some paper work at his desk, reassuring himself that there was nothing there, when he spotted a picture frame on her desk with a picture of a young her and a dog. He had never seen it before. He picked it up and looked at it closer before asking her what it was.

"Oh, that was one of my dogs. He's cute right? I had another dog, a golden receiver mixed poodle, but she didn't really like me. This one loved me to bits though. I miss him a lot actually." She said sadly.

"What happened to him?" He asked.

"Not long after the tour, before daddy sold my pets, he ran in front of the limo. Thinking about it now actually, if he hadn't of died, I would have kept him instead of the pony." She replied

"What kind of dog is he?" he said admiring the puppy.

"A Maltese mixed poodle."

"What is with you and poodles? Its very stereotypical of you" He chuckled.

"Laugh all you want Charlie, but they are cute dogs." She said, defensively

"Well, if you don't mind me asking, what was his name?"

"Oh gosh… I don't want to say…" She said embarrassed

"Oh come on, it can't be THAT bad" He reassured her.

"… Mr Fluffles…" She muttered, embarrassed. "Please don't laugh okay, I was nine."

"I'm not laughing." He smirked " Besides it's a very "Nine-year-old-Veruca" name for a puppy." He chuckled.

She told him to shut up and playfully nudged him. He told her that it was a cute name for a cute dog and went back to her desk. He pondered over the fact that she had actually liked one her pets. He clearly recalled the amount of pets she listed when demanding a squirrel. It seemed as if she hadn't cared for any of them, and that she probably made the butlers take care of them. At least there was one pet that made her happy, and for the next 30 minutes he couldn't focus on his work, being distracted by that thought. He looked over to her desk and saw her hard at work, trying to figure out a new business strategy. She worked so much harder than she was credited for.

For the rest of the day he spent his time looking at Maltese-Poodle dogs on the internet. It was until he caught a glimpse of an advertisement, listing a pet shop that happened to sell a Maltese-Poodle that looked exactly like the one she had owned so many years ago. He looked at the price, and it wasn't too expensive, and it had been vaccinated and properly taken care of. But alas, the location of the pet shop was three hours away. It was then that he realised that he just wanted her to be happy. It didn't matter if he had feelings for her, or for that matter, that she had feelings for him. It didn't matter that she only saw him as a friend, he was doing what a good friend does and wanted to make her happy. He didn't need to deny those feelings because he knew it didn't matter as long as she was happy. Of course he didn't want to spoil her, and for her to fall back into old habits, but he was going to buy that puppy.

That afternoon after work, Veruca asked him if she was to walk home with him, he told her that he actually had to stay behind. She was confused at this and asked him why, to which he assured her that it was none of her business.

"Oh, well have a safe trip home I guess…" she responded shyly before leaving. He felt bad for letting her down, but he knew it was all going to be worth while. He contacted the pet store to see if the dog was still there, and they emailed back saying that it was. He quickly rushed home and got in his car to make the three hour drive. Once he got to the pet store, he was shown the puppy, who immediately started jumping all over him in excitement. He knew this was the one and bought it. It was late at night when he returned home and he texted her to meet him out side his apartment early in the morning before work. She asked why, to which he responded that she would know in good time. He texted her his address and went to bed. He knew she was going to love it.

 **A/N I hope you enjoyed that chapter.**


	9. The Puppy

**A/N Thats really interesting! I find Maltese dogs to be especially adorable! I'm glad you also ship it very similarly to the way I do.**

It was 8am when Veruca's alarm went off. She groggily reached for her phone to turn off the alarm, and as she did so, received a reminder to meet Charlie at his apartment. She climbed out of her messy, tangled bedsheets, and walked into the kitchen. She immediately made herself some tea to kickstart her day. Veruca had been up the whole night, tossing and turning, and not being able to get any sleep, so she knew she was going to need something to keep her awake for the rest of the day. After she made herself breakfast and had a shower, she walked out of her apartment, struggling to lock it with its busted, rusty old door lock. As she walked to Charlie's apartment, using her phone for directions, she couldn't help but wonder what Charlie had meant when he asked her to meet him there. She pondered on what he might have awaiting in store for her.

Once she got to the apartment she knocked on his door. Charlie opened the door and greeted her, he seemed rather excited. As she was greeted inside, she couldn't help but notice how big the apartment was compared to hers. Of course Charlie didn't like to brag, but it was the best he could afford without being too grand. It had five rooms in total. A Kitchen that attached to the living room, one bedroom with an ensuite and another bathroom for that was at the side of the living room. She couldn't help but notice that the decor was all cheap Ikea stuff. He told her that he just liked the simplicity of it and offered her to help her build her furniture as well. She smiled at this and thanked him, she wasn't much of a builder, and she embarrassedly admitted that she lost her temper whilst trying to build it and gave up. He chuckled and told her that he would be happy to help her, but first she needed to wait and asked her to sit on his couch, as he had something for her. She sat down on his brown, hide lounge and waited for what he had in store. To her surprise he came back with a puppy, much similar to the one she owned. She immediately got up and asked Charlie if she could hold the puppy, to which passed it to her.

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"It's a boy, and his name is Apollo"

"He is amazingly adorable." She said lifting Apollo up.

"Well, I'm glad that you like him… cause he's yours." He responded.

Her jaw dropped. She was in shock. Did Charlie really go out of his way to buy her a dog?

"Y-you're joking right?" She said, thinking that it was unbelievable if he did.

"Yes- I mean, I saw how much you loved your old dog, more than any of your other pets so I spent the rest of the day at work looking up golden receiver mixed poodles and found one exactly like yours. And I know that nothing could ever replace Mr Fluffles, however I took the liberty to drive a total of six hours to buy you that dog. I just wanted to make you happy, thats what friends are for right?"

"Oh Charlie this is- this is incredible, are you sure? I mean what if I cant be trusted with a dog? And I cant believe you drove six hours for me. Thank you." She smiled, and kissed his cheek. He blushed and told her that thats what friends do. She thanked him, giving him a hug, and told him that this was the best gift she had ever received.

"You really are a good friend Charlie." She said before putting the dog down.

The rest of the day consisted of playing with Apollo and Charlie helping her build her furniture. She couldn't help but notice this warm feeling inside her, gradually building up. She looked at him, staring at him laughing at how poorly she had done building it. She couldn't help but smile, he was so kind and sweet, and he was a gentleman, always putting other peoples needs before his. She still couldn't believe that he went out of his way to buy her a dog. She felt a little guilty about it though. She didn't want to be spoiled, but then yet again, she was actually grateful for the gifts she had received and thanked him. She recalled that six years ago she never would have done that. He just wanted her to be happy, and he cared about her, which made everything sweeter. She felt like she actually mattered to him, that this wasn't some ploy to distract her by getting her gifts, and it wasn't because he couldn't show love, it was because she mattered to him, and he cared about her wellbeing. Realising this, Veruca suddenly knew why she had been having that warm feeling around him. She was falling in love with him. She knew that he was the type of guy that she would want to spend the rest of her life with. No, not because of the gifts, but because he wanted her to be happy. He cared. She knew that with him, she would be loved. Maybe that was him being a friend. Maybe she was going way over her head. She never had a real friend, so she didn't know if friends did this stuff to each other. She thought about it some more as they assembled the furniture. Maybe she actually was falling for him. He was the only one to give her a second chance when they reunited. In fact, he was the first person ever to give her a second chance. Of course she didn't want to be awkward around him, she didn't want to ruin what was already an amazing friendship filled with laughter and care. He probably didn't even think of her in that way, and he probably just thought of her as his best friend. With this thought she went out of her daze and helped Charlie put the last screw in.

Once they had completely finished Charlie told her that it was really nice spending time with her, and that he hoped they could do it more over the holiday break. She had totally forgotten that she had a two week break, starting up again after New Year's Eve. He mentioned that there would be a NYE party once they got back from vacation, and asked her to join him at the work party. She nodded, thanking him again for everything that he had done that day. As she closed the door behind him, she couldn't help but wonder if there really was something there.

 **A/N Well thats the chapter. I will post another tomorrow. I'm really enjoying writing this.**


	10. Feeling at Home

**To** **Tristan494 I can assure you your story is great but thank you for complementing my story and saying that it deserves more attention :). It was a great way to kick off my Monday morning once I read it. MattTheWriter072, it is. Honestly I just looked at names for dogs and Apollo came up. I found it a coincidence because I am reading Les Mis at the moment and they compare one of my favourite characters to the Apollo, one of the Olympian Deities. So I knew that this was a good name haha. I do find it really sweet when they help each other with the furniture. I can only imagine Veruca getting frustrated and loosing her temper at Ikea furniture. And to answer about Charlie loving outside the factory, yes it was because he wants to live independently. But because his apartment is so close to the factory he still probably feels like he never left. As much as he loves Wonka and the factory, he must want to have some independence because he is at least 20 years old in this fic, and 20 year olds do want some freedom and independence.**

It was a couple of days after Charlie had gotten her the dog and she had just finished walking it. It had gotten dark, and started pouring with rain, so she decided to head home. She walked into her apartment building and climbed the stairs, reaching her door. As she put the key in the door to unlock it, the lock wouldn't budge. Out of frustration she started forcefully turning it until the key broke. She kicked the door in frustration, angry at how nothing seemed to go right for her. It was cold, and dark, she was shivering from the rain and now she was locked out of her apartment. No one would be able to help her this late so she was stuck. She sat on the floor, petting Apollo thinking of all the things she could do. Go to Violets? No, Violets apartment had a strict no pet rule. Call her dad? No, she didn't want to seem needy, besides her parents lived two hours away from her. What about Charlie? He only lived five minutes from her, surely he could let her stay over for one night. She got up and went outside, trying to rush to get to Charlie's house.

Charlie heard a knock on the door and opened it to see her dripping wet and shivering. She had explained to him what had happened, that her key had broke and that she had no place to stay. He let her in and told her that she and Apollo could stay the night. He noticed that she was shivering and some dry clothes and a blanket. It was only a hoodie and some sweatpants, as it was all that could fit her, but she appreciated it and thanked him. He told her that he was cooking up dinner and offered her some to which she nodded, and told him she hadn't eaten since lunch.

"You must be starving."

"Yeah, but I'm not that great of a cook anyway so whats the point."

"You don't know how to cook?" He simply asked in a mild manner

"Not really… I know the basics… I had professional chefs okay!?" She said defended herself.

"Here let me show you how its done" He said, gently pulling her towards him, she tried to back away a little to which he let go.

"Charlie, I don't really want to… I mean, I'd like to learn, but I shouldn't, I'm terrible and will burn the building down." She nervously said.

"Then… I will happily burn this place with you. Now come here and I'll teach you" He joked. She cautiously came, but felt his comfort and decided to stay and not back away. He told her he was going to be cooking some spaghetti and asked her to get the pan and put some water in it to boil. She did what he asked her to, and they waited for the water to boil. He asked her what she had been doing for food for the past couple of months and she said that she had just been eating her terribly cooked food or taking out. Once the water boiled he made her put the spaghetti in the water. She asked him how much and he told her that he always never knew. If they made too much they could have leftovers for the next day, which he considered a treat.

"You know its really cute that you consider it a treat." She said quietly.

"Oh" he was caught by surprise. He started blushing. "Well, I guess its because I never got enough food when I was poor…" He quickly added, trying to look away to make sure she didn't see him blush.

"Oh… thats not what I meant… I'm sorry" She quickly stammered over her words trying to find a way to apologise. "I just meant, you're always so optimistic. I guess I didn't say it in the right way."

"No, its fine, I knew what you meant." He reassured her, trying not to make her feel embarrassed.

There was a silence and the two went back to watching over the spaghetti. She pondered over the fact that at home she never had leftovers, they always either gave the rest of the food to servants or threw it away. She felt bad because all that wasted food could have gone to someone like Charlie.

"D-do you like spaghetti? I mean I don't want to serve you something you don't like." He spoke up.

"Yes, I do. Charlie, you don't have to worry, I'm YOUR guest, I'm lucky that you're taking me in for the night." She said, putting her hand on his. Once he realised this she quickly took it off, not wanting to make things awkward. For a quick moment they both stared into each others eyes, knowing there was something there, until they shrugged it off, feeling as if the other didn't reciprocate their feelings. He quietly put the spaghetti into the drainer and served it. They didn't talk much whilst they were eating, however much they wanted to. Charlie told her that she should take his bed for the night whilst he took the couch. She was about to refuse, but quietly nodded and went to bed.

 **A/N Hope you all enjoyed this chapter.**


	11. The Nightmare

**A/N Thank you MattTheWriter072, Yes something interesting will happen. This was my favourite chapter to write.**

Veruca tossed and turned that night as she dreamt.

 _She found herself at home, in the mansion, with Charlie. She knew that she had to tell him about the way she felt. She sat him down on her bed. Pink, gaudy, and too over the top was all she could think once he sat down on her pale pink bed. She started mentioning how she wished she could change the decor, to which Charlie nervously laughed at. He seemed odd, uncomfortable. She knew it was now or never, she took a deep breath in and told him._

 _"_ _Charlie, I have to tell you something." She nervously spoke_

 _"_ _What?" he said in disdain._

 _"_ _Well, I like you. But not in the way you think."_

 _"_ _Like, a crush?" he chuckled_

 _"_ _Yeah, kinda, I guess." She said more cheerful, he seemed to be on the same page as her, until he started laughing. She didn't know what was so funny, she kept asking but he continued to laugh. Suddenly her dad bursted though the door yelling at her. Screaming that she failed the company and bought shame to their family. The business was ruined, they were broke, all because of her. She told him that the incident happened years ago, surely it couldn't have been for that reason. But he kept yelling. His stern, cold voice turned into shouts that felt like knives cutting through her. It was her fault. The repercussions of the incident, her not wanting to be apart of the nut business, her failing school and getting expelled. He called her a failure. A failure as a child, and a failure as a person. She cried, pleaded with her dad that this wasn't her fault, that she had tried to change, but he didn't see that. All he saw was a mistake. He disappeared._

 _She sat alone in her room, Charlie was gone, her father hated her, and she had failed as a person. Suddenly she found herself in the living room next to her mother who, yet again, was drinking heavily._

 _"_ _I heard about what happened with you and Rupert. Its all your fault. Now we are broke, and I cant afford the most expensive, luxurious clothes."_

 _"_ _You're drunk, what would you know." She replied in anger. It wasn't her fault._

 _"_ _Don't act like you're not at fault here." Her mother responded, sipping her martini._

 _"_ _I'm not!"_

 _"_ _Oh really? You've spent an awful lot of time with that peasant boy to care too much about our business." She said coldly._

 _"_ _He isn't a peasant. In fact, he is pretty damn rich now! And it was daddy's idea that I work for him."_

 _"_ _Oh but you failed that didn't you. You were supposed to merge us together. Instead you've been flirting with that peasant boy. You only want his money and to take it all for yourself. You haven't changed a bit. You're the same spoiled brat as you were when you were eleven. We should have sent you away earlier."_

 _"_ _Thats not true. None of thats true." She pleaded._

 _Her mother quickly got up and threw her glass at the girl. It missed her and shattered against the wall. Shards flying back at the girl. Veruca was in shock, telling her mother that she could have hurt her. Angina told her that was her intentions and slapped the girl. When Veruca turned around again to face her mother, she was gone. Instead it was Violet, and the other ticket winners standing at her place, with Wonka behind them. They started laughing at her, telling her she wasn't good enough. Mocking her cry about how her daddy abandoned her. She tried to run away but they followed. Their taunts growing louder and louder. She ran into the hallway, bumping into Charlie. She hugged him and cried in his arms, telling him what happened, but he pushed her away. He started backing away, his face in disgust, as if he saw her to be a monster. He started laughing again._

 _"_ _Why would I ever love a spoiled brat like you?" He said before he pushed her into the doorway and she landed into a blue and white stripped room._

 _She was in the nut room, except she was eleven again. She didn't know why but she had the urge to take the squirrels again. She tried to stop herself but she kept walking towards the squirrels._

 _"_ _I'll have you" she said before trying to grab one, and just like she remembered, the squirrels pounced on her. She tried to fling them off but it was no use, instead they grew bigger, clawing at her like ribbons. She fell on the floor, hitting her head, looking up to find giant squirrels pinning her to the ground. It felt like they were going to break her limbs. She tried to flail but they pushed harder. They started dragging her body across the room, she tried clawing her way from falling down the chute, yelling to her father to climb over the gate as he watched on. She called for Charlie to help her, but he just stood there emotionless. Wonka called out, saying that incinerator was on, she tried to break free but the squirrels pushed her down the hole._

 _The falling never seemed to stop, but once it did, she was standing in the incinerator, watching her old self struggle to get up from the heap of garbage she was laying in. She ran over to her younger self, trying to help her up, but her younger self was engulfed into the garbage like quick sand. The incinerator grew hotter, she pressed her hand against the metal wall, burning herself and branding a 'W' shape into her hand. She saw flames rise, and she tried to run out, but the garbage stuck her to the floor. It began wrapping itself around her wrists and neck, pulling her down. She struggled to breathe, she was sinking into the garbage as well. The flames only grew bigger, smoke filling the room, she felt claustrophobic as the room shrunk. She felt the flames crawling up her legs, burning her. She could barely see from the smoke, but figures grew from the flames. It was everyone. They began taunting her, but what felt worse to her was the image of Charlie standing there, smirking, as if she deserved it. He did nothing but watch on as both the flames and the garbage engulfed her. She screamed for help but he just watched on in pleasure._

She woke up in a cold sweat, screaming and crying. Charlie was there for her, holding her back. She could barely breathe, the bedsheets had twisted around her. She hugged Charlie, who told her he was there for her.


	12. Comfort

**A/N I am back! Thank you all for the reviews, I am about to take my finals next week and I dislocated my shoulder** **at work, so I'll try to post when I can.**

Charlie was trying to get some sleep when he heard some muttering coming from his room where Veruca was sleeping. He smiled, he found it cute that she talks in her sleep. The mumbles became louder, the same word, 'no' over and over again. He started hearing shouts and yelling, he was curious as to why, worrying if she was okay. He got up from his couch, walking towards his room. Was she okay? It was until he heard the screams that he ran to his room to see her shaking. Tossing and turning, screaming for help, the bed sheets twisted around her. He immediately ran up to her, holding her. She wasn't waking up. He tried to hold her still, she seemed as if she was trying to claw free. He reassured her it was all right, that he was there for her, and she woke up. He felt her shaking, and she began crying. Veruca immediately hugged him, crying in his shoulder. He reassured her that she was okay now, and that he was there for her, but the look in her eyes suggested she was doubting it. She quickly apologised to him, telling him she was sorry for waking him.

"You don't need to apologise. I'm more worried about you. Are you okay?"

She shook her head. He could tell that she needed comfort. He pulled out of her hug and brushed the hair out of her eyes, they looked directly at each other. He asked her if she wanted to talk about it and she declined. He told her he would be getting her a drink, and when they got back they would talk about it. He could tell she needed it, and once he got back she spoke up.

"I- I don't want to."

"It's okay, you don't have to. But I feel as if you need to." He replied. He was right, she did need to.

"Okay." She said, quivering.

"What was it about?" He asked.

"The tour. Everything that happened to me. My parents hating me, telling me that I was a failure, especially because I got expelled from school, and that they shouldn't have bothered having me because I was such a waste." She spoke up, not looking at him.

"Why would you ever think that?" He asked her.

"Because its true. I was a brat, and they never really loved me. It was my fault when the nut business was struggling. All because of my stupid attitude at the tour." She huffed, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Surely you don't think thats still true? You're parents love you, no matter what. It may not seem like that, they might not know how to show you love, but they definitely do love you. If they didn't, then they wouldn't have stopped spoiling you."

He was right, she was stupid to think that. She knew that they did, but she couldn't help but think that they didn't. Her father was a very cold, stern business man. It never seemed as if he did love her. He pushed her away, sending her to military school. Sure she needed it, but even after she would come home, it was like he was still mad at her. She needed to be punished, not to be pushed away. Charlie could see that there was this huge guilt built up inside her, weighing her down. She felt like she was at fault for everything that had happened. Then he suddenly realised what she meant by 'the tour.' She wasn't just feeling guilty from the repercussions, she wasn't just feeling guilty about how she acted in the past. She was traumatised. He pulled her in again, and they held each other for what seemed like forever.

"Y-you still have nightmares about what happened?" he spoke up, pulling apart and looking at her. Her head was bowed and she felt ashamed. "Veruca, look at me, how long have these been happening? How often do you get them?"

"All the time. They used to be much worse and quite frequent. I had them everyday for about a year after the tour. At first daddy didn't do anything about them, because it was a punishment that I deserved and it was traumatic, so of course I'd have a few nightmares. But when they didn't stop he tried to get me help."

"How?" He asked, looking concerned.

"I went to a therapist for a couple of months, she told me I had made the whole thing up. Manifested the squirrels to hide some "real trauma" and wanted me to go on medication. She didn't believe me. No one did." She said, wiping a tear from her eye. She continued to explain that she stopped going. She was bullied quiet frequently at school for it. Her bunkmate hated her. Charlie couldn't help but sympathies with her.

"Are you okay now… that you've talked about it." He asked her once she finished and there was a brief moment of silence.

"Yeah, actually you're the first one to talk me through it." She said. "Dad thought they went away." She quickly added, seeing his shocked and confused expression. "Its just- when you're told your gonna die, at such a young age, all because of some stupid, dumb thing you did…. A mistake that I made because I was a greedy, selfish, and spoiled child, … and being told that you're gonna burn to your death in any minute as you are being dragged to said incinerator… it really messes with your mind." She continued, sobbing.

He asked her if she would be okay, she nodded and he left to go back to the couch.

"Stay…"

"What?" He asked her in confusion.

"Please stay… I don't want to be alone."

He looked over at her, she was scared. He nodded and came back. She rested her head on his shoulder and fell asleep.


	13. Expulsion

**A/N Thank you for the review MattTheWriter072, that chapter meant so much to me once I wrote it, so I'm glad you felt it was very human. I think that all the kids would have gone through at least some type of trauma after the tour, and it probably messed with their heads a lil. Especially Veruca, who was flat out told she was going to die by being burned to death and she could do nothing about it (until its revealed that its broken). I will say my shoulder is better, so thank you for your concern , and finals is getting stressful haha :) On another note, I've actually finished writing this whole story, and I can confirm that there are 20 chapters in total. Enjoy this next chapter.**

It was the next morning and he had awoken up early to the sound of the rain. The pitter-patter on the windows felt comforting and calm, almost a peaceful presence. He looked over to check on Veruca who was holding him tightly. He had this overwhelming feeling of protectiveness over her, but at the same time, he didn't want her to let go either. This was something that he knew he could look forward to everyday. But unfortunately for him, he didn't think she reciprocated those feelings. He tried to quietly get up, trying to make sure not to disturb her. With the slightest move he accidentally woke her up. They both apologised to each other, for him waking her up, and for her to be on him. He told her to get some more rest whilst he made breakfast, he knew she was tired.

She couldn't get back to sleep, only thinking about that night. She got up, annoyed at herself for not getting any rest, and greeted Charlie in the kitchen. He asked her why she got up, and told her to go back to bed, but she refused and told him she couldn't get anymore rest. She sat down on the couch and he turned the television on for her, she grabbed the remote and fiddled with it before finding a channel she enjoyed.

"Cartoons?" He asked.

"Shut up okay. I like them, and I watch them when I cant get any sleep." She rolled her eyes. Who was he to judge?

"I'm not saying thats a bad thing. I like cartoons as well." He said to which she ignored him. "Listen, about last night-"

"I don't want to talk about it." She abruptly cut him off.

"Oh- I was just going to say, I'm here for you, if you need it. And if you want, I can ask Wonka if he could do something to stop this from happening."

She looked up, he seemed sincere and had good intentions.

"You would do that for me?" She asked.

"Of course. You're my friend and I'd help all of you. What you guys went through was traumatic. I don't agree on the fact that your punishments for being brats had to be mutilation and a lifetime of trauma."

After she had thanked him he called her over to eat. He had finished cooking breakfast, waffles with a side of bacon, to which she enjoyed. It was silent for the most part until he spoke up, questioning her about something she had mentioned the night before. He had remembered that she said she had been expelled from school. He assumed it was before military school and began to wonder why she had been expelled before remembering that she had told him that she had dropped out of school. Once he questioned it he looked up to see that she was red in the face, clearly embarrassed and he could tell that she probably didn't mean to mention it. She began stumbling over her words, trying to find an excuse and trying to find words to say.

"Veruca, did you get expelled or not?" He asked her sternly.

"Yeah… I didn't want you to judge me so I said that I dropped out."

"Why would you think that I would judge you?" He asked, confused.

"I don't know. I was scared that maybe you didn't want to be my friend. I didn't want to scare you off after we had such a great time. I wanted you to think that I hadn't done anything bad since the tour." She looked down, afraid of what he might say.

"I wouldn't have done that. I knew it would probably have taken you some time. Besides, what did you get expelled from, it couldn't be that bad." He asked. She refused to answer until he asked her a couple of more times. He told her that they should be honest with each other.

She told him that a couple of girls had been really bitchy towards her. She went to a boarding school and her roommate hated her because of her constant nightmares. Her roommate would make fun of her so Veruca hated her to. One day they thought it would be funny to catch some wild squirrels and put them in her room whilst she was sleeping. Once she woke up she noticed ten squirrels running around the room trying to escape. She eventually had a panic attack and had to be sent to the nurse. The girls got in trouble and they ganged up on her, throwing her into the lake before a double P.E lesson. Once the girls were in P.E, Veruca snuck there rooms and grabbed there belongings, setting them all on fire in the middle of the quad. She then ran into the girls changing rooms and grabbed their clothes and threw them in the fire as well. Once the headmistress found out it was Veruca she was furious. Veruca got expelled and her father had to pay for the damages she created.

"You- you set a fire to there belongings?" he asked, shocked. He could clearly see that she had regretted it.

"It was a month after the tour Charlie, those girls were horrible, the amount of fights we got into…" She didn't want to explain any further " Look, I'm not saying it was a good thing what I did. I really regret it and feel guilty about the whole thing. I didn't want you to find out because I thought you might react badly. But I had my reasoning, even if I went very VERY psycho about the whole thing."

"Well, if you hadn't of done that you wouldn't have been sent to military school then… and then you probably wouldn't be here, working at the factory I mean." He told her after a long thought of what he was going to say. Of course he was disappointed in her, but that didn't change the way he felt about her. It was the past and she had changed, and if she hadn't she wouldn't feel so guilty about it. He remembered that she had always been a bit extreme, especially enjoying other peoples demises from the tour. He began to chuckle and she asked him why.

"Lets be honest Veruca, you always were a bit of a sociopath." He joked. She could see her getting offended at first until her expression changed, he knew she was going to go along with it.

"Yes, Charlie, I am a sociopath and I must confess that I am also a sadist. You've found out my secret." She laughed.

"Well, I only figured it out about because I'm so smart" he joked.

"And me enjoying Gus' and Vi's demises from the tour had nothing to do with that?"

"Oh no, not at all. I'm surprised that you and Wonka haven't had a good chat about creating more horrible demises. " he laughed.

As the laughing died out, she thanked him for not taking it so harshly. He told her that the past was the past and he would be worried if she hadn't been so guilty about the whole thing. He reassured her that he wouldn't think differently of her and that she should try to move forward from it. There was no use looking back on it as what was done was done. She asked him if he really didn't feel differently from it and he told her that he didn't. It was the truth. It was a surprise at first for sure, but it was a very Veruca thing she had done. She had owned up to it and said she regretted it which made all the more sense as to why he shouldn't think different of her. She had changed, to which he kept repeating to himself and it was true. They stared at each other for a moment. It was silent. He recognised that he was falling for her even more. They were honest with each other and could laugh over such stupid things like why she got expelled from school. He didn't feel differently about her which made him think, should he work up the courage to ask her out? What if she said no? He told himself he was going to ask her out… but as a friend. That way nothing would be awkward between him if she rejected his feelings.

"Hey so… I was wondering if maybe you wanted to… I mean I don't know… the two of us, could maybe have dinner together. Maybe tomorrow night? As friends though! I mean… I don't want this to be awkward." He laughed awkwardly.

Her heart sank at the words "As friends though". She really liked him, and for those moments beforehand, she thought he was asking her out on a date. She would still like to have dinner with him. She enjoyed his company and was grateful that he didn't react badly to her expulsion. She started to think what she had the next day. She sighed as she remembered. She couldn't go for the worst reason.

"I'm really sorry Charlie… I can't. Well, at least not tomorrow. I have a date." She said. She cringed at the words "date". It was a family friend who her parents had set her up with. His name was Brad and their fathers went to the same country club on the weekends.

"Oh…" He replied, it crushed him thinking that she was going on a date with someone. He knew for sure now that she didn't like him the way he liked her. He told himself he would forget he ever had feelings for her and told her that they should go out another time, as friends.

"I'd like that." She told him. The rest of the day was awkward between two. She had left his house and went back home with her dog. She finally got her lock fixed and as she entered her house she looked around at the furniture they had built together. It saddened her that she couldn't spend more time with him, but it crushed her even more that she thought he only thought of her as a friend. She asked herself why she was even going on a date with Brad if she didn't even like him. She had always hated Brad, even from an early age. But Veruca did as her parents told her to. Much different from all those years ago when her parents would do what she told them to. She hated herself for doing as they pleased, now knowing how they felt all those years ago. But she hated herself even more for not being able to express her feelings and share them with Charlie. She hated herself for being just 'friends'. Veruca Salt had not wanted anything in the years after the tour, however Veruca knew that all she wanted, more than anything, was for Charlie to reciprocate her feelings.

 **A/N I made the joke about Veruca being a sociopath because lets be honest she totally was in the 05 movie hahaha. No but if we are being serious for a moment, she was the only one not weirded out about the other peoples demises, she almost seemed too happy that it was happening. Especially after Violets demise where she happily asks if Violet will always be a blueberry, as if she wanted her to be. Til next time :)**


	14. Reassurance

**A/N I'm back from exams and I have another instalment for y'all. To MatttheWriter072, there is a tone more stuff that proves Veruca is a sociopath bahaha. I have a group chat with other Wonka 05 fans, and even they agree. Another moment is during Violets song, and Veruca can be seen swaying to the music. I actually noticed it when looking at the bts, before the CGI was put in, and I went back and watched the film and she swaying a lil to the music which I find hilarious that she is enjoying it so much. I don't know if that was intentional but oh well its funny to watch. From memory its a shot of them all looking at her, their backs facing the camera, Wonka dancing, and I'm pretty sure that the Oompa Loompa's are jumping off of Violet. Anyways enough about that, enjoy this chapter. :)**

After she had left his house, Charlie began to ponder about how he could help her. He felt awful that she had been so traumatised by the squirrel incident, and it made him feel sick in the stomach. He decided that he should see his parents and ask them what he should do about it, since he felt so much responsibility for it and promised Veruca he would help her. He couldn't help but wonder what the others must have experienced after the tour as well.

He soon left his house and wondered to the factory to visit his parents. Unfortunately, his grandparents had past away some years ago, but his parents were always there to offer their advice. He knocked on the slanted door to be welcomed into their warm home. The house was still located in the chocolate room, however it was much more furnished and renovated. It was no longer missing any parts of the roof and had no more holes in the walls. They greeted him inside and invited him to stay for some tea. His parents however knew that there was something troubling his mind and asked him as he sat down and began to drink.

"What's wrong Charlie? Is everything alright? We haven't seen you this worried since you failed your third grade science experiment." His mother asked.

"I actually do have something on my mind. Do you think the other winners might be traumatised since the tour?" He asked.

"What makes you say that?" His father asked, concerned about his sons coworkers.

"Well, Veruca came over last night and she had a nightmare…" He told his parents who's expressions were both shocked and confused. "Not like that, her key broke and she had no where else to stay. Anyway, she was telling me that she's been having nightmares since the tour. Now, I'm really concerned about her… and the others of course" he continued.

His parents looked at each other, they could see that he clearly liked her. He had visited them before and had always mentioned his friendship with her. His father sat down beside him, and his mother rested her hand on his shoulder, comforting him. They told him that he should look deep into his heart. Maybe he could talk to Wonka. After all, Wonka witnessed everything and it was his factory that they all had been punished in. They reassured him that it wasn't right what happened to them all, and that they probably all have had their demons haunting them since the tour. He looked down with guilt. Maybe he should have done something instead of watching them all go down to their fates.

"You like her don't you?" His mother asked.

"Of course. She's my friend." He replied.

His mother shook her head. Charlie knew what she was implying and nodded. But he told her there was no use, she had a date tomorrow night. She obviously didn't feel that way about him.

"Now son, it's just a date. Did she look happy about it?" His father asked.

Charlie shook his head. Thinking about it, she didn't seem to keen on the idea. He told his parents that he didn't know how to express his feelings for her. He was so worried that she would look at him differently if he told her. That it would make things awkward between the two of them and they wouldn't be friends anymore because she would be scared off. He wanted to tell her so badly. He was so sure that he loved her. They had grown so close, he didn't want that to be ruined. His parents told him to do what he felt was right, and that he should let his heart guide him into making decisions. He shouldn't overthink it, and if worst comes to worst, she wouldn't be the one. If she was, she wouldn't react as badly as what he'd think, and that he should wait for her. He was so certain she was the one.

He told them he was going to Wonka, to see if he has any idea of how to stop these nightmares. His parents gave him a hug before he left and told him they were proud of him, and reassured him that if he followed his heart only good could come from it.

He went to find Wonka, and knocked on the door to Wonka's office and was invited inside. His office was huge and colourful, always reminding him of the chocolate room from its bright, vivid colours. He stepped inside and greeted him.

"Wonka, I uh.. I think something should be done to help my coworkers." He told him. He had never once felt nervous asking Wonka for anything, they were like brothers. However, knowing how Wonka was still a little bit cold towards his coworkers he knew he wasn't going to get the answer he hoped for.

"What do you mean?" Wonka asked. Wonka's voice, high pitched, almost like a laugh.

"Well, uh… I've been told that some of my coworkers have still been struggling with the consequences of their actions at the tour, traumatised even." He responded.

"Why my dear boy, of course they should. Are you saying we should do something?"

"Yes, of course we should. It's the right thing to do."

"Charlie, I do believe that they should be punished for what they did at my factory." Wonka responded. He didn't seem happy.

"I mean, sure they needed to be punished, but they shouldn't have to be traumatised. They didn't have to be mutilated, or suffer from it. I think we should do something about it." He responded. This seemed to be their first argument ever, and it hurt. He never wanted to argue with Wonka, if only he could open up and see that they have all changed.

Wonka told him that there was nothing he could do about it. No matter what Charlie insisted, he refused to help. However he did offer one advice. He told Charlie that if he wanted to do to help them then he should do it himself. He told Charlie that he should find his key motivation for do helping them, and use it. He told Charlie to remember the key, and that it was very important. Charlie put his hands in his pockets and smiled. Charlie knew exactly what he meant, and thanked him for his advice. As he was leaving Wonka asked him something.

"Why do you care so much about them? What is your motivation for helping them?"

"I feel like it's my responsibility, I could have helped stopped them but I just stood there and watched."

"There is something else to it, I know that look on your face, it's the same face I made when I made my first candy . Charlie, the key to making the best candy isn't the idea, it's the motivation behind it. I may not know a lot about socialising, but I do know that you're doing this for Veruca."

Charlie took a step back. He asked how Wonka knew. For Mr Wonka to have known, it must be pretty obvious that he liked her.

"I can tell. Remember Charlie, chocolate contains properties that triggers the release of endorphins, giving the feeling of being in love. I've only felt the same way about my love of candy, and my factory of course."

Charlie nodded, of course he was right. He thanked him and left, following some directions Wonka had given him. Charlie didn't return home that day, he was doing something better.


	15. The Date

**A/N Hey everybody, I am so sorry I have been away. I just got back from semester break and I was away and didn't** **have access to my computer. However, because I wrote these last chapters months ago (like I said last chapter), I will post everyday until then. Bit of a trigger warning for this chapter I guess, don't** **wanna spoil it though, but just be mindful when reading this that it contains the date being... well a douche (well ALOT more than that, actually).**

It was the next day and Veruca was trying to decide what to wear on her "date" whilst Violet helped. Violet was on her bed petting her dog shaking her head at outfits she thought weren't good enough for her to wear. Violet began not paying attention and started playing with the dog, much to the annoyance of Veruca who kept reminding her to be focused. Violet told her that she would prefer to play with the dog as fashion wasn't her area of expertise, however she knew a good outfit when she saw one.

"Calm down okay! Besides its only Charlie…" Violet rolled her eyes.

"It's not- Why would you assume it's Charlie?" Veruca asked.

"Oh…Um… it's nothing, I see you hanging out I just assumed- who is this guy anyways?" She quickly steered off topic. She knew her friend liked Charlie, however she knew Veruca was also too stubborn to admit it.

"He's a family friend. Bit of an asshole really." She groaned

"Then why are you going out with him?" Violet asked.

"Our parents set us up… " Veruca rolled her eyes. "Besides, it was his fathers recommendation that got me into that military academy anyway."

Violet scoffed, she still couldn't believe that Veruca, being the princess that she was, went to military school, and graduated for that matter. She laughed at the fact that she would have had to endure such pain. Knowing Veruca, she probably complained the minute she got there, and probably cried when she got herself dirty from crawling in mud or something. Veruca told her to shut it, and Violet continued to help her with an outfit.

"I'm still curious as to why you thought I was going on a date with Charlie?" Veruca asked, not wanting to steer the conversation. She knew that Violet was about to tease her, and wanted to stop it before it could happen.

"Well… its just… Mike and I have a bet…"

"Violet! Gosh, I cant believe you!" She yelled, throwing a pillow at her.

"Listen okay! We always see you hanging out together, and we thought that maybe you guys liked each other. I see the way you look at him. You like him. I've never seen you be so happy when he's around, and I also know that you're too stubborn to admit it to yourself."

Violet expected a violent reaction from her, but to her surprise, Veruca sat down beside her and told her calmly that she was correct. She was glad that Violet didn't tease her, but instead was telling her the harsh reality of the situation. It was true, but she didn't just 'like him' there was more to it then that. She expressed that it was difficult for her to process and that she had no idea how to express her feelings. She wasn't even sure she had feelings for him. She told Violet that she thought that she might have been making it up because she doesn't know how real friends interact and these feelings could probably be her reaction to that. But Violet shook her head.

"No, it sounds like you're in love with him."

"But how can I be so sure? I've never had real friends before, you guys are my first best friends. I'm sure he doesn't feel that way either." Veruca replied. It hit Violet that Veruca had been such a cold hearted bitch because she was just a lonely little girl. She reassured her that things were different, and she was glad to be considered one of her first real friends.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you" she laughed. "If you want, I can talk to Charlie. But you should just tell him how you feel, I'm sure he would understand. It might make things awkward at first, but its Charlie, he won't disown you as a friend. If I were you, I would go on this date because of your parents, see how you feel, and then ignore the guy and go for Charlie." She continued.

They heard a beeping outside. It was Brad, in his red Ferrari. He looked pissed off and angry, constantly checking his watch. He beeped again out of annoyance. Veruca thanked her for her advice, and also thanked her for dog-sitting. She walked to his car. Brad was wearing a grey knit suit jacket with a pair of black jeans. He wore a blue buttoned up shirt, and a black skinny tie. His blonde hair was swooped over his brown eyes, ignoring her. Brad drove fast and was careless when he drove recklessly to the restaurant.

"You're wearing pink?" He scoffed

"What's so bad about that?" She asked

"It's such a girls colour. What are you? Nine?" He said. Veruca knew he could be mysogonistic a times. She knew him since childhood. He always made snarky remarks about her, and he got away with it because he was a couple of years older than her.

"Why do you even bother commenting on what I wear when you're just going to be a pig?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"I care because I don't wanna go out with a girl that dresses like that." He scoffed. He had other intentions.

"You'd prefer it if I dressed like a slut then?" She argued.

"Geez, you've always been such a bitch you know that? Just shut up until we get to the restaurant."

They sat in silence on the way there. As soon as they got there he refused to open the door for her and walked straight into the building. She rolled her eyes and got out of the car and followed. She noted that they were a far distance away from her apartment, somewhere in the city. They sat down at a table and began to look at the menu. The after came over and Brad immediately told the waiter what they were going to eat. She noticed how rude it was that he didn't allow her to decide what she wanted to eat. Is this how she used to behave as a child? She recognised how her parents must have felt. He remarked about how she should thank him for getting her into military school. It was his fathers recommendation that got her in. He remembered all the dumb things she used to do and reminded her of the time she disobeyed orders and as a result, got shot with paintballs.

She remembered that time, it hurt like hell. Every year, the whole academy would be split into two teams and would play a giant game of capture the flag on the school grounds. The school led to a massive woodland forest that would used in the game. Each team would go off into the forest and set up a camp, planting their flag in the middle of their base. They had to explore the forest to find the other teams flag and return it to their home base without getting shot by paintball guns. Veruca remembered an experience in her first year where she had ignored everyone and went to hike back to the academy. Her plan was to sneak back and be in her nice, warm bed whilst the others got dirty and shot. Unfortunately for her, she got lost and stumbled into the other teams base and got shot by everyone. She was an idiot, but it did lead to her team winning as they followed her.

"Can you shut up about that, I was an idiot." She commented

"You still are. Im surprised you didn't die by the time you graduated." He replied.

"I graduated with honours and was the top of every class when I graduated!" She said gritting her teeth.

"You? Graduated with honours? I don't believe that! I'll have to ask Rupert next time I visit the country club!" He said. She rolled her eyes, of course he started going to the country club. He even made a remark that whilst he was living the high life, she was living in a crappy apartment.

"Well, daddy wanted me to merge the business' together."

"Geez, you're such a suck up. I remember a time when everyone was afraid of you. Except for me of course, I knew exactly who you were."

As their food arrived he got up to go to the bathroom. She looked down at her plate and realised he had gotten her a salad. She thought that he was a dick for letting her have to wait to eat. It is usually good table etiquette to wait for everyone to be present at the table before they could eat, unless if it was hot food. He did this deliberately so she would have to wait. It seemed like forever until he got back, with his eyes being red and watery.

"Are you high?" She asked.

"Maybe? I want to enjoy tonight, okay? Considering that I should be paying."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Depends on how you behave" He smirked.

"You're disgusting!" She said, her hands balled up into fists. She was ready to leave but reminded herself why she was there in the first place.

As the night continued on she had to face many more of his snide comments, they began being rude and started turning a bit sexual, to she just guessed it was because he was high and started drinking. She had to endure more comments until he made one that made her mad.

"Wait a minute? Wasn't your graduation the same day as that big problem in your dad's factory? Someone was caught stealing? Oh fuck me, that's hilarious! He missed out on your graduation! I guess he care's more about his business than you after all."

"Just shut up." She replied. She had had enough. It was true, her father wasn't at her graduation, but only towards the end of the ceremony. He had to rush out and he came back, but it still made her upset to this day. It was something she dwelled on.

"I remember when you were such a cold hearted bitch. What happened to that? You're still a bitch, but seriously, I can see the water works about to come".

"I want to go home." She said. She stood up, and he followed her. He made her pay for the whole thing and took her outside to the parking lot. He told her that he was only making jokes and that she should come back to his place because he was sorry. He told her that he would buy her a drink on the way. She nudged and pushed him away as he rubbed her shoulders, she knew exactly what he was trying to do.

"What is your problem!? I went out of MY way to drive you here and to have a nice night, only to get shoved away." He said.

"So you could fuck me is that it?" She said. He grabbed her aggressively as she tried to walk away. He started telling her that he was going to enjoy his night and tried to kiss her. She slapped him and he pushed her in retaliation.

"You bitch! Don't bother telling your 'daddy' either. He wont believe you anyway!" he said before slapping her in the face and getting into his car and driving away. She sat down in the empty parking lot, promising herself not to cry. She pulled out her phone and immediately called Charlie to pick her up, knowing Violet had no access to a car. He answered the phone and she broke down crying. She was in the middle of an empty parking lot, by herself, and it would take Charlie thirty minutes to get there. She prayed that she would be safe, and continued to silently cry as she waited.


	16. Afterwards

It was 9pm and Charlie was working on some plans for the new project he was working on. He knew it was going to help his friends, and couldn't wait to give it to them. He was jotting down notes when he got a call from Veruca. He could tell that something had happened by the quiver of her voice.

"Veruca? Whats wrong? Are you okay?" He said, worried about her.

"Can you just pick me up please?" She said, he could tell she was trying not to cry.

"What happened? Wait… Weren't you on a date tonight? Did he do something to you?" He asked, now really concerned. She didn't reply, and started bursting into tears. He asked her where she was and immediately went to pick her up.

It took him twenty minutes to drive there. He is usually an obedient driver, however he was rushing to get to Veruca and didn't want her to wait out in the cold, alone, late at night. As he drove to the empty parking lot he saw her crying on the ground. He pulled over beside her and rushed to her, hugging her when he saw her. He sat beside her and asked her if she was okay. She shook her head in response and couldn't string a single word together without crying. He told her it was okay and reassured her that he was here for her. It got to the state that she began hyperventilating and he took her hands, telling her to slow down.

"It was… awful… he insulted me the whole night… he made me go hungry and wait… he made me pay for everything when it was his fault… then he tried kissing me… to top it all off he was high and drunk… and when I wanted to go home, he refused and left me here…" She recalled, burying her head in his warm embrace.

He got up off the ground and held out his arm to help her get up. Charlie opened the door for her to his car and she got in. They drove in home in silence until she spoke up, thanking him for driving her home.

"I'm always here for you, you know that right?" He said, looking over to her staring out the window.

"I know, thats why I called you." She said as she smiled. She wanted to tell him so bad, but now was not the time.

"If its any consolation, I think you look really pretty tonight. Pink suits you. He's just a douche and a complete idiot for screwing up a date with the most amazing person I know. You don't deserve any of that. " He replied. She blushed when he complemented her, bringing a smile across her face.

"Really? I would of thought that would be Wonka"

"He's a close second." He chuckled. He turned to see the red mark on her face from where Brad had hit her. His expression changed. He had never been more angry in his life.

"He hit you didn't he?" He asked in anger. "Veruca, look at me… did he hit you?" He asked again more calmly. She simply nodded.

"Where is this guy?! I need to talk to him and set things straight!"

"No, Charlie it's okay. He's just a jerk."

"A jerk? He hit you across the face!"

"It's because I didn't want to sleep with him."

"And that makes it better?!"

"No, it doesn't. Charlie, I've never seen you be so angry before."

"Your right… I-I'm sorry. I was being a jerk."

"Compared to him? No. You have every right to be angry at him. At least it means that you care."

He did care. He cared about her a lot. He didn't want her to be assaulted by some douchebag with a load of money. He wanted her to be safe. In a way he was kind of glad the date went badly. Not in a cruel way, it was that he could see that there was maybe a chance for him after all. He shook his head, as he sounded selfish. He had never acted like this before, it was a weird experience and he hated it. He shut those thought out and focused on making her feel better.

"I wish I had never gone out with him in the first place. He was a douche when we were children, he was a douche at school, and he's still a douche." She said. She liked calling him a douche, it got all her frustration out.

"Wait… So you never wanted to go out with him? Why did you?"

"He was a family friend. Ive known him for… forever actually. Our parents set us up, probably to get our families to be together. The rich marrying the rich for lineage or something. I don't really know. Besides, his family is what got me into that school anyway, with their recommendation." She thought about it. Her dad was going to kill her. She had killed that relationship and now they have no way to thank them for getting her into that school. Was that what she was to them? A "thank you" gift? Surely not. They were probably trying to do whats best, but if she were to go out with someone, it was her choosing.

"Well, I'm sorry about what happened."

She rested on his shoulder as he continued to drive. She began falling asleep, and as she did he swore he heard her mumble "I love you" under her breath. He shook his head and denied it and continued to drive. He decided he was going to tell her. But when? He wouldn't now, after everything she had been through. He put his arm around her and comforted her. He decided to pull over to get some food, she did mention she was hungry after all. He pulled up to a drive through, he wasn't sure what she wanted, and she was sure she hated fast food, but he got her some fries and a drink. As he went to pick up the food he carefully grabbed it, making sure not to wake her up.

"You guys are really cute together." The drive though worker said passing the food.

"Oh thanks, but were not- I mean-"

"It's okay, I get it. Hang on, aren't you that chocolate kid?"

"Uhh yeah…"

The worker immediately recognised who was beside him and smiled, she gave him his change and he drove off. Charlie pondered over the thought of them being together. Would it work out? She was so angry all the time, and he could tell she was hurting inside. He hoped he could make that go away. He was going to tell her. They soon arrived back at her apartment, he didn't want to wake her up. He got out of his car and picked her up, carrying her inside. As he arrived at her apartment he heard her dog scratching against the door.

"Apollo stay!" He heard from he other side of the door, it was Violet. He was glad that he didn't have to wake her to get her key.

"Oh… Charlie… you're? Is she alright?"

"That 'Brad' was a bit of a jerk."

"I could tell. He kept honking his horn at her to get into his car."

"Oh it was much worse than that. I'd rather not say because I don't think it's my place to say." He replied, putting her on the couch. "She's really tired."

"I can see. And you got her food? You're a really sweet guy Charlie. She deserves a guy like you." Violet said and she meant it. Over the past couple of months the two girls had become close friends, they understood each others struggles and could talk about almost anything. It was nice having another girl in the workplace. Even if Violet was a tomboyish, she needed to have another girl friend alongside her, she wouldn't know how she'd cope.

"Just tell her I hope she's okay." He said as he got up to leave.

Just as he left, Veruca woke up. Violet gave her the food and told her that Charlie had just left after driving her home. She at least wanted to say goodbye and to thank him for driving her home.

"You know he got you that food? I think you should tell him how you feel. It's so obvious that you're meant for each other."

"I don't know if I can Violet."

"What happened to that girl that I knew who would speak her mind. Especially with that county fair comment! Tell him!"

"Yeah, well I've changed." She said with a hint of disdain.

"I think we all have, but sometimes that doesn't necessarily mean for the better. Look, you have changed for good in some ways, but your lack of confidence and the fact that you dwell on the past is really affecting you."

"I know" She replied. "I just don't know how I should tell him. I mean I feel awful. He has done all these things for me. He's driven me home, let me stay the night and even comforted me, he bought me a dog…. oh my gosh…" She released that it was in plain sight all along. He liked her and she never realised it. She was too worried about herself, and tears welled up in her eyes. "He did all these things, because he- because he likes me. Doesn't he?"

Violet nodded. Her friend was only just now realising what it was liked to be loved.

"I think you should thank him by inviting him to dinner." Violet said.

"I can barely cook."

"Then take him out for dinner, I know that he should probably ask you out but lets be real, he probably doesn't have the balls to." She replied to which they both laughed at. Violet asked her what had happened at the dinner and she told her everything.

"Do you want me to beat him up?" Violet asked.

"Please." She responded and they laughed. She was so grateful for the things in her life now. She had never once imagined that she would have a best friend who she could talk to about this stuff with, or love a guy who cared about her so deeply. She was never grateful for the things before, but she was now and was going to take Violet's advice further. She would call him up and see if he were free, then she would tell him everything.

 **A/N And thats the chapter! Stay tuned for more! Only 4 more chapters left.**


	17. The Fight

**A/N Thank you for the lovely reviews MattTheWriter072 :)**

It was the next day and she was nervous calling him up. She had taken Violets advice and decided to take him to dinner to thank him for all he had done. If it went well, then she would tell him the way that she felt about him. As she picked up her phone she stared at the number for what seemed like forever. She had never been nervous talking to anyone, especially Charlie, but this was different. She finally hit the call button and waited for him to answer. She waited and waited but got no reply. She called again, waiting to hear his voice, but unfortunately it lead straight to voice mail.

"Uhm hi Charlie, its me, Veruca. I was wondering if maybe… I don't know… if you were free tonight we could have dinner. Just as a thank you, for everything you've done. Unfortunately I'm still not a proficient cook, so maybe we could just… go out. Call me back if you want to." She said before hanging up.

She sat down on her bed and picked up her dog and began petting it. It warmed her heart knowing he bought it for her. She still couldn't help but wonder if he really did like her. She was stupid if she didn't think so, as the evidence was right there. But that doubt kept coming back as she couldn't fathom what was really happening right in front of her eyes. Maybe he really was just a friend. No matter how many times she replayed it in her head on how she was going to tell him, she still had that feeling that he would be weirded out and reject her. She recounted the last few months that had led to this moment. How she got a job at the factory; the place that was traumatic for her, made best friends out of some old enemies, and ended up by falling in love with one of them. It was a crazy thought but she had never imagined she would be in this situation.

Nearly 9 years ago she would have thought she had gone mad to have these feelings, and to become best friends with her worst enemy. She smiled by how much she had changed. She had learned to become much nicer, and not the cold hearted bitch she once was. She learned to accept gifts with gratitude and gratefulness, and not asking for everything to be in the palm of her hand. She guessed that it wasn't just her change of lifestyle that made these changes, but how she had developed over the past few months being around everyone. Veruca also noted about how less confident she had become. She didn't know why, but with everything that had happened to her she assumed it took its toll. She hoped she would gain a little bit of that confidence back.

Her train of thoughts stopped as her phone started ringing. She looked at the screen to see it was Charlie. He apologised because he didn't have his phone on him but told her that he would love to come to dinner with her. She told him that she would make reservations to a place she knew not far from her apartment. He offered to pick her up and she gladly accepted. As they both hung up the phone, they knew that that night was going to be when they told each other their feelings for one another.

The whole day she was scrambling to find something nice to wear. She was obviously going to wear her coat, but she didn't know what to wear with it. Pink. It had to be pink. Charlie thought it suited well, but she only had one pink dress and she was not wearing it again as she had worn it the previous night. As she scrambled to find more clothes she remembered what Violet had said. "Its just Charlie" rung through her head, and she knew Violet was right. Charlie wouldn't care if she wore the fanciest of clothes, because he cared about her. Not what she wore, not the way she did her makeup or hair. He cared about her. She looked at her phone clock, not noticing the time go by and realised he would be arriving in an hour. She immediately chose what she was going to wear and got herself all ready, and began waiting for him.

She watched the clock tick, seeming as if time was slow. 10 minutes. 10 minutes until he was expected to arrive. She wanted time to go faster, if only there were away. She decided to head outside and wait for him there. She stepped outside when she saw a familiar red vehicle parked outside. It was Brad. He stepped out of his vehicle and ran up to Veruca, pleading to give him a second chance.

"Why should I? Did daddy kick you out because you screwed it all up?" She said bitterly, trying to ignore him.

"No! I just wanted to talk to you and apologise. We were both jerks and I think we should give it another shot."

"So you can get my fathers business and then sleep with me? I don't think so. Besides, I've got a date with someone who actually cares about me." She said before trying to walk back into her apartment. He grabbed her arm his grip was strong.

"Just talk to me! Thats all I want!" He replied, his tone harsh. He seemed to be on edge. Something didn't look right about him either. He was probably high again.

"Get off of me!" she yelled before trying to throw him off. He didn't budge, instead he grabbed her and tried forcefully to push her into his car. His grip was tight and it began hurting. He pleaded with her to take her back as he tried to get her into his car. She kicked him in the shin and began to run for it. It was then that he grabbed her and started calling her names, taunting her. Before she could get into his car he was tackled to the ground. She got up out of the car to see Charlie punching Brad. Unfortunately for him, he had forgotten that Veruca had mentioned that Brad went to military school and Brad overpowered him, throwing Charlie off of him. Brad grabbed Charlie and threw him on the ground, punching him straight in the nose. Veruca tried grabbing Brad but was pushed off. Charlie witnessed this and stood up, he went for a punch but Brad grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his arm.

"Stop! You're going to break his arm! Let go of him!" Veruca yelled at him trying to push him off. Brad grabbed her with his other hand and pushed her on the ground. He laughed as he did this, calling her "weak" and a "bitch". Charlie, being furious with these remarks, punched Brad with his remaining arm, clocking him straight in the face, knocking him out. Brad slumped on the ground, letting go of Charlie.

Charlie held out his hand helping her get up, asking if she was okay. She immediately greeted him with a warm embrace and lead him inside to her apartment to make sure that he was okay. As they were walking back, she saw Brad wake up, look at her and hurried off into his car driving away.


	18. Injured

**A/N Sorry I didn't post yesterday, I had some uni stuff to do. I forgot to mention, but last chapter I had a lil inspiration from Back to The Future, which is one of my favourite movies and that part is really sweet and gives me chills every time. Anyways enjoy.**

After Charlie and defended Veruca from Brad, she led him back to the apartment, telling him that she was grateful that he were there. She apologised for what had happened as she opened up her door, telling him that she would cancel the dinner reservation because of the fight. He laid on the couch and she told him she would be right back with some medical supplies. As she returned she noticed his hands were still shaking and were swollen. She grabbed his hands and started cleaning them up, asking him why he continued and get injured, when he could have just backed out of the fight.

"I couldn't just let you go with that guy could I?" He said, wincing in pain.

"I guess not. I don't think I've thanked you enough. You've always been there for me and I feel like I can't thank you back."

"What makes you say that?" He asked. He was unsure of what she meant.

"Well its just- you've done everything for me. You've gone out of my way to do these incredible things for me and I feel like I can't repay you back." She replied. Her expression saddened as she continued to speak.

"Veruca, you don't have to repay me. I've been doing these things because I know they would make you happy." He said, holding her hands.

"I know, but I still feel guilty. I just don't want to take advantage of you doing these things for me… I don't want to be a spoilt brat again."

He understood what she meant. It was true that he had bought her everything, but it was only out of the goodness of his heart. He hated seeing her being miserable. He never thought she would feel so guilty about it.

"Is this why you wanted to go to dinner tonight? I know you said you wanted to thank me, but you felt as if you could repay me back?"

She nodded. He told her that she didn't have to do that, to which she responded that she also enjoyed his company. It was much better than with being with Brad. She still wondered why he was there so early. He was supposed to get there for another 10 mins.

"I had a hunch. Why were you waiting outside?"

"I don't know, I was getting impatient." She giggled, to which he laughed as well. They continued laughing, looking at each other deeply, until he winced in pain. She apologised and continued helping to patch him up. He noted that she was pretty good at it, to which he jokingly asked if she picked it up at military school. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, trying to act offended but failing to hide her smile. He once again chuckled to this, to which they both realised that they made each other happy.

They sat there for what seemed like forever, time feeling slow. She continued to help him in silence until they looked into each others eyes again, staring deeply. After what seemed like forever, something came of Veruca and she leaned in, kissing him. She didn't know why she did it. It was in the heat of the moment, but once she realised what she was doing she pulled away and quickly apologised, telling him that she didn't know why she did it. She knew she had made a mistake, she should have just talked to him about her feelings. Everything felt so sudden.

"I'm sorry I- I shouldn't have done that. That was totally inappropriate, I should have known what its like to have someone try to kiss you without consent. I'm sorry." She rushed over her words, becoming a stuttering mess.

"No- it's okay" He said, he was shocked about the whole situation. Confused even.

"No, it's not okay. Uhm… you can sleep in my room if you want, you probably can't drive home."

"I'm fine. Besides I can sleep on the couch."

"No, just- it's getting late… I'll get us some food. Just forget this ever happened." She said rushing out the door. As she went outside, she knew she messed up. She cringed at her self and walked to get some food. He probably hated her now. It was so sudden, now she was doubting not only herself, but her friendship with him as well. She thought about calling Violet, but she knew that wasn't going to end well. She had to sort things out by herself.

Meanwhile Charlie was confused about everything that had happened. Did she like him? She kissed him, but then yet again, maybe it was out of gratitude for what happened earlier. Now she was embarrassed, and clearly didn't want to talk about it. He started worrying that this spur of the moment kiss would ruin everything. He was happy to receive the call to be invited to dinner, but now everything seemed ruined. He had decided he was going to confess his feelings for her tonight, which is why he arrived at her apartment so early. He had gotten her flowers as well. She was probably just confused about her feelings when she kissed him, after all, who knows what Brad could have done. He decided he would try to forget about it.

She arrived with some food, and they both sat in silence not looking at each other. To spare the awkwardness, Charlie told her he was going to get some rest. She didn't say a word and continued to watch t.v. She watched on as he left the room, and swore to herself that she would never do that again. Everything that they had had suddenly became awkward and uncomfortable. She began doubting her feelings, thinking to herself that maybe he really was just a really good friend.

She had trouble sleeping, not just because the couch was uncomfortable, but she had all these thoughts racing through her mind. Once she finally did get some rest, she awoke to another terrible nightmare, only this time, Charlie wasn't there to comfort her. She missed all the things that had happened between them. Veruca wanted his comfort. She began regretting even inviting him at all to dinner, as none of this would have happened if she hadn't. Veruca tried getting back to sleep, not knowing that Charlie had heard her nightmare. He walked into the living room, assuming that he saw her asleep , he walked back to bed to get rest. He regretted not getting up sooner to see if she really did have another nightmare.


	19. The New Years Party

The rest of the break the two didn't speak to each other. It's not as if they didn't want to, it was because they didn't want to make things awkward between them. During those last days of their vacation however, they missed each others company. Once they went back to work however, things became quite complicated between the two of them. Everyone, including Wonka, could feel tension in the room. It felt as if everyone was walking on thin ice. Nobody knew why, but they all kept silent about it, even Violet who was usually nosy in these types of situations. It was then that Charlie decided to take action.

"So… I was wondering. You know how we have that New Years Party right? Are you coming to that?" He asked Veruca.

"I don't know. Maybe." She said, continuing to do her work, not even looking at him.

"Well… I hope you can come." He replied, before walking away.

She stopped working, and watched him walk back to his desk. She felt bad about everything that had happened. She thought to herself that she should talk to him, apologise for what had happened, and explain everything that was going on. It was then that she decided she would go to the party.

—

The day of the party came and she arrived early to help decorate. She saw Charlie, but didn't want to say anything yet until people arrived and it wouldn't look suspicious. Veruca noticed Mike by the punch bowl and walked over to him, as she did she noticed him suspiciously put something in the punch.

"Mike, what are you doing?"

"Spiking the punch, you want any?"

"What's in it?". She questioned

"Vodka." He said.

"You, can't be serious. Do you know how drunk people can get?"

"Oh yeah, now do you want any or not?" He said, offering her a cup. She saw Charlie walk past and snatched it, drinking it quickly to calm her nerves.

"Geez, what's got you in a worry?" He asked noticing her sculling it down.

"Do you really care?" She replied rudely.

"Not really. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to continue spiking this punch. I wanna see what an Oompa Loompa is like drunk."

"You are completely evil." She said walking away.

"Thank you." He smirked.

Veruca was going to confront Charlie. More people, mostly the Oompa Loompa's, turned up, allowing her the courage to walk up to him. As she struggled through the crowd she could see Charlie talking to someone. She finally got close enough to see that it was Violet. The two were laughing as they chatted, instantly making Veruca jealous. Violet knew that Veruca loved Charlie, maybe this was her plan all along, to pretend to befriend Veruca and to steal every chance she got with Charlie. Veruca shook her head in disgust. No, maybe she was overreacting. They were probably just talking. Either way, Veruca had to get her to stop talking to him. She went back to Mike and told him she needed to get Violet drunk.

"Why?" He asked.

"Violet would probably get this party going. It's lame enough as it is, and she might get it to be fun." She lied.

"Fair enough." He said pouring her some punch.

"Who bought this alcohol anyway?"

"Augustus. He bought back heaps of beer and vodka from his trip back from Germany." He replied. Augustus came over with a few more bottles and Mike told him to pour more in.

"You guys are pigs." She said in disgust, walking back to where Violet and Charlie were.

"Says the one trying to get Violet drunk." Mike mumbled. Augustus laughed at this and they two continued to spike the drinks.

As Veruca walked back to the two, she felt guilty. She knew she probably shouldn't be doing this. Violet was her best friend. But Veruca gets what Veruca wants and as she greeted Violet offered her the drink. Violet told her she had some already, but she insisted and told her that it was "only punch". The three of them began to talk, but Veruca couldn't help but feel left out of the conversation. Charlie went over to grab some more drinks and when he returned noticed that the drinks had been spiked. He knew Violet had drunk a lot her told her to stop, but she continued and became quite tipsy.

Mike and Augustus came over to see what the others were up to after seeing Violet become tipsy. Veruca felt bad and offered her some water to sober up but she refused.

"Violet you should stop drinking." Charlie said.

"Geez, whats the matter with you, it's not like I wanted to be at this party anyway. I just wanted to have some fun."

"Okay, you need to stop." He said grabbing the drink and putting in the bin.

Veruca felt awful, this was her fault. She shouldn't have tried to get her drunk. She felt like a terrible person. She offered to take Violet home, it was the least she could do but Violet told her that she was okay. Mike however, was starting to enjoy the drama.

"Violet, you need to sober up." Charlie said.

"No! I like this Violet!" Mike said. He turned to Veruca and told her how much he loved the tension. He jokingly yelled that they should kiss, to which Violet did. He didn't actually expect Violet to kiss him, but she was probably doing it to spite Mike. When Mike turned around he noticed Veruca had left. He shrugged and went back to his desk, bored that the drama had settled down.

 **A/N Sorry I didn't update, this chapter went through a lot of rewrites. I just didn't like how it ended up, and I still don't. But I needed somehow for Violet to kiss Charlie and for Veruca to storm out. Also, this means that the next chapter is the last, which I'm very sad about. If y'all want, I can write a sequel. My other story is on hiatus do to writers block. I have the story, but I just cant write it ya know? Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter more than I did, and stay tuned for THE LAST CHAPTER!**


	20. The Confession

It had been half an hour since Veruca had left the party. Mike didn't care to tell anyone that she had left, which worried the others once they noticed. It was 9:00pm and Mike decided to leave after getting bored from all the drama dyeing down. He was going to go for drinks with Augustus, but Augustus had left already with his new girlfriend he met back in Germany. Mike thought it was hilarious, no one would expect that Augustus would be the first to get a girlfriend. As he got to the bottom of the stairs he heard a sniffling, as if someone had been crying. Once he reached the bottom he found Veruca sitting there on the cold steps.

"What are you crying about?" He said, to which she glared at him.

"Nothing." She replied. She tried to stop herself from saying anymore. She didn't want to appear weak.

"Okay, if you say so." Mike said. He was about to walk away when he turned back and sat down next to her.

"You're crying about something." He said.

"I just have the wind in my eye, okay!" She denied.

"I'm not an idiot. We're indoors. You're definitely crying."

"I'm not." She said, wiping her own tears so he wouldn't see.

"It's about Vi kissing Bucket, isn't it?" He chuckled. She shook her head, but he saw through her lies. "You like him don't you." He continued to tease.

"Shut up." She rolled her eyes.

"I knew it. There was so much sexual tension between you two." He laughed. She glared at him and smacked his arm. He knew he deserved it so he didn't really care.

"Look, Violet was drunk off her ass. She definitely doesn't like him. She was probably pissed because she knew you were trying to get her drunk." He continued.

"How do you know that? Did you tell her." She said angrily.

"I might of. But it was clearly obvious what you were doing. Geez Charlie and you can be thick at times."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" She said defensively.

"Oh please, the whole group knows that you both like each other except yourselves. It's so obvious. If you both stopped doubting each other, you would probably be together by now."

She asked him that even though Violet knew, then why would she kiss him. Mike responded that he did tell Violet about Veruca's plan and she just wanted to get her back. Veruca told him she felt awful about the whole thing and told him why she did it. She knew there was probably a better way to have handled it. Mike replied that it didn't really matter since Charlie pushed her off anyway. He got up and told her he was going and waved her goodbye.

She sat there for a couple of minutes pondering what he had just said. Was she really that oblivious? She knew Charlie liked her but did she really have to doubt it? She remembered all the times Charlie did things for her. How those moments were forever ruined as a consequence for her terrible actions. Her train of thought disappeared when her name was called out. It was Charlie. He told her he had been looking for her everywhere.

"Oh you have? I thought you would have been making out with Violet." She said, pretending to be angry with him. Her tone was cold and bitchy. He sat down next to her and apologised. She didn't know whether to believe it or not. Mike was always lying so why should she believe him. She looked up into his eyes and knew he was being honest. She regretted having those thoughts.

"Yeah well, why were you hanging around her all night. You were the only reason why I came to this stupid party anyway. Then I see you go off and talk to her all night." She crossed her arms and huffed.

"I was?" He asked, innocently.

She nodded. It was true. Her feelings for him were eating her up. She needed to tell him.

"Well, actually, I was talking to her because I needed advice." He said nervously. She asked him why, to which he took a deep breath in. "For you… I-I wanted some advice on how to talk to you about the way I feel… about you…" He looked down. She asked him what he meant. Instead, he simply stood up and told her that he needed to show her something. He held out his hand and she took it.

They entered the main lobby to which he took her to the end of the hallway. He pulled out a set of keys, and opened up the chocolate room. He explained that the room he was taking her hadn't been added to the elevator yet and so they needed to take the long way to get there. She hadn't been to the chocolate room since working there but it was everything she remembered. The green grass that was edible shone as the lights peered down onto it. She remembered how the Chocolate room was the only good thing to come out of the tour. As he led her to the boat, she saw the lollipop tree she remembered she once plucked a lollipop off. It was a much simpler time, without pain and trauma. Even though she was a bad kid, she couldn't help but smile as she remembered the moments before her demise. She had always got bored at the tour, but she really should have been more grateful. She was one of 5 people who got to visit that factory that day. Veruca only just realised how lucky she really was. She never thought of the happier moments of the tour, and in doing so, gave her a sense of nostalgia that filled her.

The boat came and he helped her get on. She told him that she didn't actually mind the boat ride at first, the first time it went into the rapids was quite fun, but the second time it made her quite scared. He told her that it was only a short distance and the boat steered off. The rapids came and she held his hand tightly. Everything went by so quickly and by the time she processed everything, he told her that they were there. He opened the big round doors to reveal a dark room filled with colourful lights. She asked him what it was and he replied that when Mr Wonka had given him his own project he didn't know what he was going to do, until that night she stayed over.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"All of you went though terrible, terrible experiences… and when I saw how traumatised you were I knew I had to do something about it. Ive been working on a candy that can help you. It will suppress all those traumatic nightmares until they hopefully go away for good."

"You- You did this for me?" She asked. "Why?"

"Because I'm in love with you." He replied. Her heart skipped a beat. She was in shock, her heart was beating faster and the room suddenly felt hot. She wanted to cry. He was in love with her.

"You're in love with me?" She said, stumbling over her words.

He nodded. "I love you and… and I didn't want it to be awkward between the two of us if I told you. I didn't want it to ruin our friendship. But the other night, when you kissed me, I knew I just had to tell you. I thought, that maybe you were confused about your feelings… But I wasn't. So thats why I wanted some advice. Violet is your closest friend, and well… she is a girl and girls tend to know what to do in this situation so I thought I should ask her."

She didn't know what to say. Her mind was racing. She didn't know how to react, or what to do.

"How long have you felt this way about me?" She asked.

"Since we watched that movie. But when I got you Apollo, I knew there was no way of denying it. I-I'm sorry if this is awkward."

She shook her head and kissed him. But this time it felt real. They both wanted it.

"Why did you do that?" He asked, wondering if she was confused about her feelings.

"Because I feel the same way… You've always been a great friend, I just think it took me longer to realise how special you were to me though." She said to which he smiled. She told him that she didn't want to ruin the already amazing friendship they had either. He was the only one who had given her a second chance on there first day at work, and he was always so kind to her. She didn't want to ruin that. She explained that she tried denying it as well.

"But then you bought me my dog and I knew, I knew you were the one. I know that, because with you I know that I will be loved. I felt as if I could trust you with anything , which was probably why I went to your place when I was locked out, and the real reason why I called you up the other night. Charlie… I think I'm falling in love with you." She said looking up at him.

He was taken back by her words. He simply smiled and pulled her in. They looked into each others eyes and kissed. They began laughing about how oblivious they had been, and about how much they had been doubting themselves. He held her hands and promised her that he would always be there for her. He pulled her into his embrace and held her. They didn't say a word, and they didn't look at each other. It was comforting to know that they cared and mattered to each other.

"You know… you were my first kiss." She smiled. He told her that she was his as well and he kissed her forehead.

"Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we just stay here?"

"For how long?"

"For forever?" She laughed.

"Okay." He said.

They eventually sat down and propped up against the wall. They talked. Only talked. It wasn't anything relevant. Nonsense to others, but that conversation was special to them. She eventually grew tired and fell asleep in his arms. She felt safe in his embrace as she slept, not letting go. He couldn't help but smile. Everything, all those feelings had finally came out, and he didn't regret telling her. The weight had lifted off his shoulders, and he knew that he could love that feeling everyday, knowing that he told her and she reciprocated those feelings. They fell asleep in each others arms, knowing that they would always be there for each other, and they were finally happy together. Life had never been sweeter.

 **A/N And thats it. Thank you to everyone who has viewed and reviewed this story. Its sad that it has come to an end, but I've enjoyed writing this. This was my first fanfic ever, so I am actually happy with the way it turned out. As I said last chapter, I might do a sequel. I might have some ideas, I love adding drama so I think I know what I'm going to write about. There were ALOT of things that didn't end up, like a confrontation between Veruca and her parents, and even a side-plot about paparazzi (involving Charluca rumours and stuff) and it being revealed that Mike helped said paparazzi. But then he felt bad about it because he actually enjoyed working at the factory. I might add them if I write a sequel. If any y'all have any suggestions on what to put into a sequel that would be honestly great because like I mentioned before, I have some ideas (and they are mainly just deleted storylines and such that could possibly work or something idk). Anyways, thank you to everyone who read this story. I have become a lot more confident at writing (I mean, I'm still not GREAT, but I feel like I've improved), which actually helped me in uni. To MattTheWriter072, a BIG thank you to always reviewing and giving me to confidence I needed to write more! Til next time! :) :) :)**


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